scholarly journals CHARACTERIZATION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS AND ODOUR POLLUTION IN ATMOSPHERE AT OIL AND GASOLINE HANDLING AND PROCESSING IMPACT ZONE

Author(s):  
Evita Muizniece-Treija ◽  
Iveta Šteinberga

Air quality pollution problem is still one of the crucial points for citizens in Europe for already receiving increasing attention, particularly because of the major European cities 10 and more years. Although the EU's long-term goal is to achieve levels of air quality that do not impact and risks to human health and the environment, many of member states still didn`t reach stated goals. Additionally, to gaseous pollutants, recently specific type of pollution, - odour, seems to become more important. Usually in order to determine pollution levels, national, municipal and private monitoring equipment is used. For this research municipal monitoring site in Riga (Latvia), at Milgravja Street 10, controlling gaseous pollutants (SO2, O3, BTX, PM10) and airborne particulate matter, and private monitoring results from Riga, Milgravja Street 16, where odour pollution was obtained, are analysed. Distance between both stations are just 500 m. Measurements at municipal monitoring site is obtained by DOAS and gravimetric sampling, while at Milgravja 16 by photoionization method or so-called “electronic nose”. Monitoring results in municipal station show that in 2017 the average benzene concentration was 4,87 ug/m3, toluene – 8,89 ug /m3 and xylene – 5,07 ug/m3, while the odour pollution level does not exceed 5 odour units. In general estimation of pollution averaged annually do not show and explain variability of pollution levels. It`s well known that high BTX and odour pollution episodes occur in shorter periods, thus short term limit values would be useful in order to characterize short term effects on human health and well-being.

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 278-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhold Görgen ◽  
Udo Lambrecht

AbstractNumerous studies have demonstrated the negative effect of particulate matter on human health. The EU therefore introduced ambitious limit values for particulate matter (PM10) in ambient air as early as 1999: an annual limit and a daily limit that can be exceeded on up to 35 days a year. These values are binding since 2005. The daily limit is still exceeded in many cities throughout Europe. Heated debates on the future of the daily limit are taking place at all levels of the EU in the context of the negotiations on the Commission's proposal on a new Air Quality Directive. Suggestions range from allowing a compliance time extension to increasing the number of days the daily limit can be exceeded, and abolition of the daily limit value. The deliberations have not yet been concluded, but the decisive European institutions have voiced support for keeping the daily limit while at the same time extending the compliance deadline. In this article, we will make the point that the problem can most probably be solved by allowing a compliance extension of around 5 years after the new directive enters into force. This would give the competent local authorities and the EU the time necessary to intensify their measures in order to comply with the daily limit in most areas where it is currently exceeded. An increase in the number of days the limit values may be exceeded, as called for by the European Parliament (EP), would therefore amount to an unnecessary lowering of the limit value.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Ibrahim

Pollution due to air quality deterioration is directly or indirectly connected to the phenomenon of biogeochemistry (i.e the scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that influence the composition of the natural environment) which in turn links to the human health. Human health and well-being, along with the well-being of animals, plants, and agricultural products, are solely dependent upon the quality of air we inhale. In response to the emission control threshold levels, prediction of how changes in emission levels could affect ambient air quality has been documented. The use of photochemical air quality models is becoming widely acceptable by various global regulatory agencies for the purpose of regulatory analyses and for the attainment exhibition by evaluating and assessing the effectiveness of control strategies. This review work tries to figure out the two most important and uncommon models namely; Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx) and Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Modeling System. These modeling systems are used to predict, characterize, determine and simulate the photochemical air quality conditions. This paper gives a substantial detailed information of findings from related multidimensional studies carried out long ago and recently on photochemical smog analyses. Photochemical smog; causes and impacts on both the environment and living-being health were succinctly spelt out. Ozone formation and its different precursors; atmospheric aerosols; emission of biogenics as well as Ozone modeling phases were also discussed. The researcher still talks about the model formulations such as Zhang Model formulation; application and history of CMAQ and CAMx models respectively.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ru Cao ◽  
Yuxin Wang ◽  
Xiaochuan Pan ◽  
Xiaobin Jin ◽  
Jing Huang ◽  
...  

Objectives: To evaluate the long- and short-term effects of air pollution on COVID-19 transmission simultaneously, especially in high air pollution level countries.Methods: Quasi-Poisson regression was applied to estimate the association between exposure to air pollution and daily new confirmed cases of COVID-19, with mutual adjustment for long- and short-term air quality index (AQI). The independent effects were also estimated and compared. We further assessed the modification effect of within-city migration (WM) index to the associations.Results: We found a significant 1.61% (95%CI: 0.51%, 2.72%) and 0.35% (95%CI: 0.24%, 0.46%) increase in daily confirmed cases per 1 unit increase in long- and short-term AQI. Higher estimates were observed for long-term impact. The stratifying result showed that the association was significant when the within-city migration index was low. A 1.25% (95%CI: 0.0.04%, 2.47%) and 0.41% (95%CI: 0.30%, 0.52%) increase for long- and short-term effect respectively in low within-city migration index was observed.Conclusions: There existed positive associations between long- and short-term AQI and COVID-19 transmission, and within-city migration index modified the association. Our findings will be of strategic significance for long-run COVID-19 control.


Humankind, moving to a period centered upon improvement has overlooked the significance of supportability and has been the real guilty party behind the rising Pollution levels in the world's air among all other living life forms. The Pollution levels at certain spots have come to such high degrees that they have begun hurting our very own It will being. An IoT based Air Pollution observing framework incorporates a MQ Series sensor interfaced to a Node MCU outfitted with an ESP8266 WLAN connector to send the sensor perusing to a Thing Speak cloud. Further extent of this work incorporates an appropriate AI model to foresee the air Pollution level and an anticipating model, which is fundamentally a subset of prescient displaying. As age of poisonous gases from ventures, vehicles and different sources is immensely expanding step by step, it winds up hard to control the dangerous gases from dirtying the unadulterated air. In this paper a practical air Pollution observing framework is proposed. This framework can be utilized for observing Pollutions in demeanor of specific territory and to discover the air peculiarity or property examination. The obligated framework will concentrate on the checking of air poisons concentrate with the assistance of mix of Internet of things with wireless sensor systems. The investigation of air quality should be possible by figuring air quality index (AQI)


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dumitru Mihăilă ◽  
Petruț Ionel Bistricean ◽  
Alin Prisacariu ◽  
Mihaela Țiculeanu – Ciurlică

<p>In cities the chemical parameters of the urban atmosphere are being influenced, mainly negatively, by the daily human activities. The urban agglomeration of Suceava (from the NE of Romania) amounted to 116404 inhabitants as per the census from 2011. Their quality of life depends directly on the quality of the air inhaled, and this is being affected by the variable emissions of the transport and industrial sectors and by the household activities. The Municipality of Suceava is an important commercial center and, at the same time, a tourist city.</p><p>The general objective of the study consists in the evaluation of the air quality of Suceava Municipality, on the basis of the hourly data from the stations SV1 (urban background) and SV2 (industrial background) from the interval January 2009 - October 2019, on the basis of five chemical indicators: NO2, SO2, CO, O3 and PM10. The main objectives are: i) the identification of the fluctuations in time of the daily or hourly average concentrations of these emissions with the outlining of their daily or annual regime; ii) the comparison of the air quality in the neighbourhoods with residential function from the central and central-southern areas (Zamca, Marasesti, George Enescu, Areni, Obcini and so on) with the one from the industrial platform vicinity, and iii) the releasing of some accurate evaluations based on data from monitoring, which to classify in different levels of quality the air breathed in by humans.</p><p>Results. In Suceava the concentrations of NO2 (with hourly indices of quality evaluated as being excellent in 96,51% of cases at SV1 and 93,51% of cases at SV2), SO2 (with hourly indices of quality evaluated as being excellent in 99,79% of cases at SV1 and 99,03% of cases at SV2) and CO (with indices of excellent quality of the air in 99,78% of the hours of observations at SV1 and 97,32% at SV2) are not capable to raise real problems from the perspective of their impact on human health. In the case of O3, in 1,67% of the hours of observations from SV1 the concentration of this gas exceeded the target value for the protection of human health (120 μg/mc). The situation is not alarming due to the reduce percentage held by these situations and to the limitation of the areal to a single monitoring point. In the case of PM10 the concentration does not raise problems at SV1 station where the proportion of time with exceedings of the daily limit value for human health protection is on average 1,3 days/year<sup>-1</sup>, but at SV2 the daily limit values are being exceeded in 35 day/year<sup>1</sup>. The interval October - March, with thermal inversions, persistent fog and low stratiform clouds, is the critical one related to this pollutant.</p><p>Conclusions. On the background of the industrial decline that followed after 1989, the quality of the air from the atmosphere of Suceava has increased. The problem of the particles in the areal of the industrial platform and Burdujeni neighbourhood stays a current one. </p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Ioannis Logothetis ◽  
Christina Antonopoulou ◽  
Konstantinos Sfetsioris ◽  
Adamantios Mitsotakis ◽  
Panagiotis Grammelis

Emissions from port operation and shipping have a significant impact on climate risk, affecting the environment and human health in coastal regions (UNEP). The port of Heraklion, located on the island of Crete over the eastern Mediterranean, plays a key role in the sustainability of Southeast Europe. The impact on its operation affects the socio-economic life and development of the region because Heraklion is not just a tourist destination but also a significant trade and transportation center for the eastern Mediterranean. This study investigates the impact of port operation on the air quality of Heraklion between two representative periods. The first, which is considered as the high port activity season, was from 02 August 2018 to 08 August 2018, while the second period was between 11 May 2018 and 16 May 2018. For the air quality measurements, a low-cost sensor was used, while the recordings were initially compared and finally evaluated based on the available data of the monitoring station of the Ministry of Environment and Energy. To investigate the air quality differences between the two studied periods, the correlation analysis, the hourly evolution of pollutants, and the mean differences between high and low periods for gaseous pollutants and particulate matter are studied. Moreover, the effect of meteorology on air quality is investigated. The results indicate that the high season is characterized by significantly higher concentrations of pollutants compared to the other period. In both seasons studied, the air pollution level increases during hours of high port-activity, indicating the impact of port activity on air quality in Heraklion. The analysis shows that meteorology affects the air quality. In particular, strong wind speeds are associated with lower concentrations of gaseous pollutants other than ozone, which is affected by atmospheric circulation. Finally, the analysis emphasizes the importance of further investigation of the impact of port operations on coastal air quality in the context of sustainable development.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Candeias ◽  
Alcides Pereira ◽  
Fernando Rocha

<p>Good air quality is considered to be a basic condition for human health and well-being. Exposure to air contamination is undoubtedly associated with diverse adverse health effects, particularly in vulnerable population subgroups such as children. Regions with natural Radon gas (Rn) emissions are of major concern worldwide, due to the negative impacts on Air Quality. Being colorless and odorless, Rn cannot be detected by humans. Natural/geogenic Rn contribution to indoor air is considered a leading cause of lung tumors by the World Health Organization. Portugal implemented the 2013/59/Euratom directive in 2018, establishing ionizing radiation guidelines with an indoor air Rn maximum of 300 Bq/m<sup>3</sup>.</p><p>Guarda district (Portugal) is known for the natural geogenic Rn emissions and its impact on indoor Air Quality. A preliminary indoor Rn gas monitoring study was undertaken in 2019 (3 months period, March to May) in all the public schools (nursery to high school) of of Guarda city. A mean concentration of 1145 Bq/m<sup>3</sup> was monitored, with a maximum value of 3604 Bq/m<sup>3</sup> in a nursery school. From the twenty schools monitored, only five schools presented indoor Rn concentration bellow the Portuguese legislation and none bellow the WHO guideline of 100 Bq/m<sup>3</sup>. These results displayed an urgent and mandatory need for advanced and intensive air monitoring campaigns and assessment of implications on human health, especially in children during school hours, where they can stay up to 10 h/day.</p>


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 553
Author(s):  
Domenico Toscano ◽  
Fabio Murena

The Campania region covers an area of about 13,590 km2 with 5.8 million residents. The area suffers from several environmental issues due to urbanization, the presence of industries, wastewater treatment, and solid waste management concerns. Air pollution is one of the most relevant environmental troubles in the Campania region, frequently exceeding the limit values established by European directives. In this paper, airborne pollutant concentration data measured by the regional air quality network from 2003 to 2019 are collected to individuate the historical trends of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), coarse and fine particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters smaller than 10 μm (PM10) and 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and ozone (O3) through the analysis of the number of exceedances of limit values per year and the annual average concentration. Information on spatial variability and the effect of the receptor category is obtained by lumping together data belonging to the same province or category. To obtain information on the general air quality rather than on single pollutants, the European Air Quality Index (EU-AQI) is also evaluated. A special focus is dedicated to the effect of deep street canyons on air quality, since they are very common in the urban areas in Campania. Finally, the impact of air pollution from 2003 to 2019 on human health is also analyzed using the software AIRQ+.


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