Wintertime particulate mass concentrations in urban environment and the impact of economic crisis

The aim of the specific study is to discuss the impact of economic crisis on air quality in Greece in terms of particulate matter (PM) concentrations. For this purpose, three sampling campaigns were conducted during the winter period of 2012, 2013 and 2014 in two medium sized cities in North Greece (Kavala and Drama). The average concentrations measured ranged from 33-56, 28-47 and 25-44 μg/m(3) for PM10, PM2.5 and PM1, respectively. The analysis of the daily concentration profile for all measurements indicated two distinct periods of elevated concentrations: a) during 08:00 to 10:00 and b) during 19:00 to 22:00. The observed periods of increased concentration coincided with the periods of increased urban traffic in the morning and basic heating needs in late evening. Significant correlation was observed between PM10-PM2.5 (R(2)>0.9) and PM2.5-PM1 (R(2)∼1.0) suggesting that coarse and fine particles originate from similar sources. The PM2.5/PM10 ratio values ranged from 0.84 to 0.85 indicating a major impact of PM2.5 to the final concentration levels recorded. The results presented in the specific study support the notion that a significant alteration is undergoing to the atmospheric air quality in Greece due to the economic crisis and the subsequent increase of biomass products combustion for residential heating. Supplemental materials are available for this article.