The effect of long-range air mass transport pathways on PM10 and NO2 concentrations at urban and rural background sites in Ireland: Quantification using clustering techniques.

The specific aims of this paper are to: (i) quantify the effects of various long range transport pathways nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter with diameter less than 10μm (PM10) concentrations in Ireland and identify air mass movement corridors which may lead to incidences poor air quality for application in forecasting; (ii) compare the effects of such pathways at various sites; (iii) assess pathways associated with a period of decreased air quality in Ireland. The origin of and the regions traversed by an air mass 96h prior to reaching a receptor is modelled and k-means clustering is applied to create air-mass groups. Significant differences in air pollution levels were found between air mass cluster types at urban and rural sites.

A principal components analysis of the factors effecting personal exposure to air pollution in urban commuters in Dublin, Ireland.

Principal component analysis was used to examine air pollution personal exposure data of four urban commuter transport modes for their interrelationships between pollutants and relationships with traffic and meteorological data. Air quality samples of PM2.5 and VOCs were recorded during peak traffic congestion for the car, bus, cyclist and pedestrian between January 2005 and June 2006 on a busy route in Dublin, Ireland.

Optimal cycling and walking speed for minimum absorption of traffic emissions in the lungs.

This study investigated whether, over a number of fixed distances and under a number of different exposure concentrations, the cyclist will adsorb less benzene by cycling/walking slowly with a relatively low breathing rate or by cycling/walking as fast as reasonably possible with a relatively high breathing rate. Breathing rates were measured in the laboratory for various cycling/walking speeds over set distances. These breathing rates could then be entered into a numerical model of the human respiratory tract together with the journey times and pollutant concentrations to assess the total absorption of pollutants in the lungs.