Particle Number Size Distribution in Three Different Microenvironments of London

• Published in: Atmosphere Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 45
• Main Authors: Kalaiarasan, Gopinath, Kumar, Prashant, Tomson, Mamatha, Zavala-Reyes, Juan C., Porter, Alexandra E., Young, Gloria, Sephton, Mark A., Abubakar-Waziri, Hisham, Pain, Christopher C., Adcock, Ian M., Mumby, Sharon, Dilliway, Claire, Fang, Fangxing, Arcucci, Rossella, Chung, Kian Fan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.01.2024
• Subjects: Accumulation; Alveoli; Distribution; Emissions; Environmental aspects; High rise buildings; Indoor air quality; Iron; Low pressure; Meteorological effects; Microenvironments; Modes; Morphology; Nucleation; Outdoor air quality; particle number distributions; Particles; Peak hour traffic; Pollutants; Properties; respiratory deposition doses; Respiratory tract; Roads & highways; Size distribution; Trace metals; Traffic control; traffic emissions; Traffic flow; ultrafine particle; Urban areas; Vehicles; Ventilation; Wind speed; Winter; United Kingdom; South Africa
• ISSN: 2073-4433; 2073-4433
• DOI: 10.3390/atmos15010045

We estimated the particle number distributions (PNDs), particle number concentrations (PNCs), physicochemical characteristics, meteorological effects, and respiratory deposition doses (RDD) in the human respiratory tract for three different particle modes: nucleation (N6–30), accumulation (N30–300), and coarse (N300–10,000) modes. This study was conducted in three different microenvironments (MEs) in London (indoor, IN; traffic intersection, TI; park, PK) measuring particles in the range of 6 nm–10,000 nm using an electrical low-pressure impactor (ELPI+). Mean PNCs were 1.68 ± 1.03 × 104 #cm−3, 7.00 ± 18.96 × 104 #cm−3, and 0.76 ± 0.95 × 104 #cm−3 at IN, TI, and PK, respectively. The PNDs were high for nucleation-mode particles at the TI site, especially during peak traffic hours. Wind speeds ranging from 0 to 6 ms−1 exhibit higher PNCs for nucleation- and accumulation-mode particles at TI and PK sites. Physicochemical characterisation shows trace metals, including Fe, O, and inorganic elements, that were embedded in a matrix of organic material in some samples. Alveolar RDD was higher for the nucleation and accumulation modes than the coarse-mode particles. The chemical signatures from the physicochemical characterisation indicate the varied sources at different MEs. These findings enhance our understanding of the different particle profiles at each ME and should help devise ways of reducing personal exposure at each ME.