Source Apportionment and Toxicity of PM in Urban, Sub-Urban, and Rural Air Quality Network Stations in Catalonia

Abstract

Air quality indicators, i.e., PM10, NO2, O3, benzo[a]pyrene, and several organic tracer compounds were evaluated in an urban traffic station, a sub-urban background station, and a rural background station of the air quality network in Catalonia (Spain) from summer to winter 2019. The main sources that contribute to the organic aerosol and PM toxicity were determined. Traffic-related air pollution dominated the air quality in the urban traffic station, while biomass burning in winter and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in summer impact the air quality in the sub-urban and rural background stations. Health risk assessment for chronic exposure over the past decade, using WHO air quality standards, showed that NO2, PM10 and benzo[a]pyrene from traffic emissions pose an unacceptable risk to the human population in the urban traffic station. PM10 and benzo[a]pyrene from biomass burning were unacceptably high in the sub-urban and rural background stations. Toxicity tests of the PM extracts with epithelial lung cells showed higher toxicity in wintertime samples in the sub-urban and rural stations, compared to the urban traffic station. These results require different mitigation strategies for urban and rural sites in order to improve the air quality. In urban areas, traffic emissions are still dominating the air quality, despite improvements in the last years, and may directly be responsible for part of the SOA and O3 levels in sub-urban and rural areas. In these later areas, air pollution from local biomass burning emissions are dominating the air quality, essentially in the colder period of the year.

Determination of subpicogram levels of airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for personal exposure monitoring assessment

“…The composition in the rural samples was dominated by benzo uoranthenes, chrysene + triphenylene and benzo[a]pyrene, while in the urban samples they were dominated by benzo uoranthenes and benzo[ghi]perylene (Figure 5). PAH concentrations and compositions are in agreement with previous studies in these sites (Jaén et al, 2021;van Drooge et al, 2015). The quanti cation of PAHs in the AE51 lter strips allowed the comparison with the measured real-time eBC concentrations, averaged over the whole sampling time.…”

“…The elevated PAH concentrations in this area are related to biomass burning emissions in combination with stagnant atmospheric conditions (Jaén et al, 2021). Three of the samples were analyzed in duplicate in order to test the repeatability of the analytical procedure.…”

“…Important sources of these aromatic hydrocarbons are, therefore, combustion of fossil and modern (biomass, e.g., wood) fuels for the generation of energy, but also wild res and open organic waste combustion in agricultural elds. In many urban areas, exhausts from motorized vehicles with combustion engines are the most important emission source contributors, while domestic heating by wood combustion is a dominating emission source in many rural communities, essentially during the winter period and especially in forested areas, such as mountain valleys (Jaén et al 2021;Puxbaum et al, 2007;van Drooge et al, 2015). Occasionally, wild res are important emission sources for PAHs (Navarro et al, 2017), and wild re smoke can dominate even urban air quality (van Drooge et al, 2016).…”

Determination of subpicogram levels of airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for personal exposure monitoring assessment

“…This site often showed benzo[a]pyrene concentrations above 1 ng/m 3 in winter (Gencat, 2022 ). The elevated PAH concentrations in this area are related to biomass burning emissions in combination with stagnant atmospheric conditions (Jaén et al, 2021 ). Three of the samples were analyzed in duplicate in order to test the repeatability of the analytical procedure.…”

Perspectives on the Use of Toxicogenomics to Assess Environmental Risk

“…Cell lines are widely used to gain mechanistic, toxic, and therapeutic insights [12]. They are a highly useful tool for the generation and testing of hypotheses in environmental toxicology [13][14][15], but it is often difficult to extrapolate the effects of the dose applied to cells to the effects due to the number of substances reaching epithelial cells and organs in animals and humans.…”