Properties of Particulate Matter in the Air of the Wieliczka Salt Mine and Related Health Benefits for Tourists

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the mass concentration of size-resolved (PM1, PM2.5, PM4, PM10, PM100) particulate matter (PM) in the Wieliczka Salt Mine located in southern Poland, compare them with the concentrations of the same PM fractions in the atmospheric air, and estimate the dose of dry salt aerosol inhaled by the mine visitors. Measurements were conducted for 2 hours a day, simultaneously inside (tourist route, passage to the health resort, health resort) and outside the mine (duty-room), for three days in the summer of 2017 using DustTrak DRX devices (optical method). The highest average PM concentrations were recorded on the tourist route (54–81 µg/m3), while the lowest was in the passage to the health resort (49–62 µg/m3). At the same time, the mean outdoor PM concentrations were 14–20 µg/m3. Fine particles constituting the majority of PM mass (68–80%) in the mine originated from internal sources, while the presence of coarse particles was associated with tourist traffic. High PM deposition factors in the respiratory tract of children and adults estimated for particular mine chambers (0.58–0.70), the predominance of respirable particles in PM mass, and the high content of NaCl in PM composition indicate high health benefits for mine visitors.

Dynamic Balance and Chest Mobility of Older Adults after Speleotherapy Combined with Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Endurance and Strength Training—A Prospective Study in Chronic Respiratory Diseases

“…Speloetherapy is otherwise known as subterraneotherapy or Skulimowski method since Professor Mieczyslaw Skulimowski became the first official physician of the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine and started regular treatment of patients in the salt chambers, initiating a new field of medicine utilizing the environmental benefits occurring underground. Indications for treatment with this method include upper and lower respiratory tract diseases, with particular emphasis on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), recurrent rhinitis and inflammations of the sinuses, throat, larynx, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, allergic diseases and bronchial asthma [ 36 ].…”

The Cave Ecosystem in the Research of New Antibiotic Discovery and Development

“…In salt mines, sodium chloride aerosols result from salt rocks, brackish stagnant water, brine springs and water streams. The caves and salt mines of Wieliczka and Bochnia in Poland, Turda in Romania, Zlote Hory in the Czech Republic, and Berchtesgaden in Germany, are still used today for speleotherapy [10].…”

Particulate Matter Concentration in Selected Facilities as an Indicator of Exposure to Their Service Activities

“…More and more emerging information speaks about the harmfulness of PM and its impact. The results of scientific studies appearing more often (one can observe great progress in the measurement methods) alarm that air pollution with PM in rooms and workplaces is often the same or even worse than in atmospheric air [ 10 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. It is also worth noting that the air inside living quarters and public utility buildings (schools, kindergartens, theaters, museums) or the interiors of public transport vehicles, as well as the relationship between the internal and external sources of PM and gaseous pollutants and air quality, have been researched quite well so far.…”