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Arsenic is a toxic element that affects human health and it is widely distributed in the environment. In the area of study, the main Spanish and second European industrial ceramic cluster, the main source of arsenic aerosol is related to the impurities in some boracic minerals used in the ceramic process. Epidemiological studies on the cancer occurrence in The PM 10 , PM 2.5 and its arsenic content show a sharp decrease in recent years associated with the economic downturn, which hit severely the production of ceramic materials in the area under study. The production decrease due to the economic crisis combined with several technological improvements in recent years such as substitution of boron, which contains As impurities as raw material, have reduced the concentrations of PM 10 , PM 2.5 and As in air to a extent that currently met the existing European regulations. 3

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This study performs a field analysis of the diffusion collection rate coefficients of radial geometry passive samplers to measure NO2 in a Mediterranean coastal area. The study shows that the collection rate coefficients are not constant and depend on certain environmental parameters as well as on the levels of some co-pollutants. A mathematical model, which explains the variation of the collection rate coefficient, has been established.

The aim of the present work is to compare the performance of the Radiello passive sampler versus UV-photometric ozone analyser to measure surface ozone in a Mediterranean Spanish coastal area. The comparison presented considers precision, bias, accuracy, selectivity, detection limit, cost and applicability. For assessing precision, co-located samplers were exposed in duplicate in two reference-sampling sites, beside UV-photometric ozone analyser. Bias was calculated comparing results of passive samplers exposed in three reference-sampling sites and two contrast-sampling sites with the measurements given by the reference analysers. Accuracy was calculated following the EN 482:1994 standard. The limit of detection was calculated as 3 times the standard deviation of the blanks in a batch of passive samplers. The compared Radiello passive samplers give a precision of 5.2%, a bias of 13.8%, an accuracy of 20.5% and a limit of detection of 12.6 microg m(-3). The selectivity and applicability of this methodology is in both aspects successful. Surface ozone levels measured with passive samplers were comparable with the averaged values measured with the reference analyser both in the reference-sampling sites and in the contrast-sampling sites.