A Pilot Investigation of PM Indoor/Outdoor Mass Concentration and Chemical Analysis during a Period of Extensive Fireplace Use in Athens

Abstract

During the recent economic crisis in Greece, fireplaces and wood stoves have been extensively used for domestic heating even in densely populated cities like Athens. Throughout the last winter periods (especially winter 2012-2013), a persistent phenomenon of smoke haze covering many urban and suburban areas of the city was observed. In the framework of the present study, indoor and outdoor PM 10 and PM 2.5 measurements were conducted in an apartment in suburban Athens during December 2012-February 2013 for two periods. One period with minimal or no wood burning at fireplaces and another period with intense wood burning taking place in the area. The results highlighted the impact of biomass burning on PM mass concentration in the ambient atmosphere as well as the indoor air. OC/EC and K + /EC ratios for both (indoor and outdoor) particle fractions revealed their origin from biomass burning. The most abundant ions were SO 4 2-and NO 3 -followed by Ca 2+ , PO 4 3-, Na + for indoor and outdoor particles with levels typical for this suburban area. Finally, Fe strongly dominated in both indoor and outdoor air while elemental enrichment factors highlighted the anthropogenic origin of trace elements. Indoor to outdoor concentration ratios, especially during the period of extensive fireplace use, showed that carbonaceous particles and some trace species (Cu, K + , Na + ) were released in the indoor air.

Multi-city comparative PM2.5 source apportionment for fifteen sites in Europe: The ICARUS project

“…The only exception was an extremely higher OC/EC value (15.3) in Athens urban background site, quite close to that reported by Amato et al, 2016, for the same site. This value was then attributed to the reduced share of diesel vehicles in the local fleet; however, it could be also linked to a possible influence of biomass burning source (fireplace use), which is intense at the specific site during the winter sampling period (Saraga et al, 2015). This is also supported by the presence of K + in the source profile.…”

Impact of wood combustion on indoor air quality

“…Over the past years, studies have been performed to assess PM levels in indoor air when operating wood burning appliances (e.g. Castro et al, 2018;De Gennaro et al, 2015;Guo et al, 2008;McNamara et al, 2013;Salthammer et al, 2014;Saraga et al, 2015;Semmens et al, 2015).…”

“…Other studies focused on particulate PAH levels from residential biomass combustion (De Gennaro et al, 2015;Salthammer et al, 2014). Particulate organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC) were measured in Greek (Saraga et al, 2015), Spanish (Castro et al, 2018) and American households (Ward et al, 2011). Ward et al (2011) also evaluated the levels of some chemical markers of wood smoke in 16 American households.…”

Annual Variability of Black Carbon Concentrations Originating from Biomass and Fossil Fuel Combustion for the Suburban Aerosol in Athens, Greece

“…Greece is one of the countries that, besides the previously documented elevated background regional pollution levels in the warm period of the year [22], has seen a significant increase in the use of biomass burning for domestic heating. This was due to a dramatic increase in the price of residential diesel fuel during the period 2010-2013, leading urban populations towards cheaper, alternative fuels for heating [23]. It should be also noted that domestic wood burning in Athens is known to be based, in general, on low-efficiency combustion systems, further aggravating the air pollution burden from this source.…”