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Physical and Chemical Properties of Airborne Particulate Matter

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Clinical Handbook of Air Pollution-Related Diseases

Abstract

Airborne particulate matter is one of the main atmospheric pollutants also known as a criteria pollutant as well as an environmental indicator. It affects the radiative balance of the planet and its hydrological cycle, it may play a role in visibility, but above all, it has been historically associated with adverse effects on human health. This chapter describes the physical and chemical properties of this complex pollutant, introducing the basic knowledge for suitable physico-chemical characterization and source apportionment.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to [5], the publication rate of scientific papers on aerosol science has grown from units article/year in the 1980s to the present 1500–2000 articles/year in the present time, based on ISI Web of Science.

  2. 2.

    The overall oxidative behaviour of the planetary atmosphere is defined as oxidant capacity of the atmosphere; details of these fundamental properties of the Earth’s atmosphere are beyond the scope of this contribution and can be found in [11].

  3. 3.

    The “microenvironment” as compared to the environment as a whole indicates a portion of space in which PM is well characterized and which is able to provide an inherent interaction/outcome in individuals.

  4. 4.

    In this respect, it is worth to consult guidelines and reports by the World Health Organization available at http://www.who.int/indoorair/publications/en/ (page visited on 12th October 2016).

  5. 5.

    This threshold value is conventional rather than physically based as the transition between the fine and the coarse mode is not so sharply defined; sometimes the threshold is fixed at 1 μm.

  6. 6.

    Specific surface area of solids is a parameter defined as the total area of a grain-sized material per unit mass and is measured in m2/mass (g or kg) of material. Owing to a basically, though not exclusively, geometrical reason, overall surface of an unconsolidated material increases exponentially with decreasing size on a constant mass basis. We omit visual examples for the sake of brevity and suggest the following reference for a deeper insight [25].

  7. 7.

    For the sake of completeness, it must be remarked under particular conditions which requires the analysis of hundreds to thousands particles per sample: also SEM analysis can be employed even for quantitative elemental analysis though this is far less convenient than other instrumental/analytical techniques, as the analysis of large numbers of samples is usually needed in order to collect sufficient information to cover the two main objectives of PM characterization, namely, source profiling and identification of health-related species.

  8. 8.

    According to IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry), cut-off is defined as “The size of particles at which the retention efficiency of an instrument device drops below a specified value under defined conditions” (http://goldbook.iupac.org/C01481.html, visited September 12th, 2016).

  9. 9.

    Aerodynamic diameter does not necessarily coincide with the geometrical diameter of aerosol particles but defines a virtual diameter of particles with their own density and shape but terminal velocity equivalent to that of a spherical particle of unitary diameter and density.

  10. 10.

    As a general rule, gravimetry of aerosol samples is the most accurate way to achieve the determination of PM mass loads, even though the method is lengthy and demanding, requiring standardized protocols to overcome potential bias in PM sample handling. Moreover, the weighing operations are characterized by an extremely accurate performance compared to many other measuring operations; this characteristic is of basic importance as PM samples can be very limited and therefore difficult to characterize accurately. Recently PM x samplers may be equipped with tools allowing for an automatized determination of aerosol loading based, for example, on the attenuation of a weak beta-beam or others. In this way air mass load can be monitored also at the sub-daily scale (PM x is usually collected on a 24-h basis) as the measurement can be carried out during the sampling without any interruption, increasing the operation information and efficiency and reducing costs of the operation; nevertheless, a systematic and frequent check against the standard method is highly recommended due to drifts and bias especially important at low PMx concentrations.

  11. 11.

    The troposphere is the innermost layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, in contact with the planetary surface and containing 75–80% of the atmospheric mass.

  12. 12.

    United Nations Economic Commission for Europe UNECE: http://www.unece.org/env/lrtap/welcome.html and http://emep.int/index.html (both sites visited on 26th September 2016)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry “G. Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Laura Tositti

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  1. Laura Tositti
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Correspondence to Laura Tositti .

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  1. Alder Hey Children’s Hospital , Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Fabio Capello

  2. Scientific Director of Health Lab of GTechnology Foundation, Modena, Italy

    Antonio Vittorino Gaddi

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Tositti, L. (2018). Physical and Chemical Properties of Airborne Particulate Matter. In: Capello, F., Gaddi, A. (eds) Clinical Handbook of Air Pollution-Related Diseases. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62731-1_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62731-1_2

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