On the nonlinear relation between the Coefficient of Haze and Elemental Carbon mass concentration.

Coefficient of Haze (CoH) was the official proxy for the mass concentration of particulate matter in the US from ca. 1950 onwards. Originally, a linearity between CoH and sample load was claimed, but although shortly after the introduction of the method it was found that the relation between mass loading and the fraction of light 10 absorbed by the sample was identical to the nonlinear curve of the European "Black Smoke" (BS) method this correction was not officially adopted.

Association between exhaled breath condensate nitrate + nitrite levels with ambient coarse particle exposure in subjects with airways disease.

Objectives: Studies of individual inflammatory responses to exposure to air pollution are few but are important in defining the most sensitive markers in better understanding pathophysiological pathways in the lung. The goal of this study was to assess whether exposure to airborne particles is associated with oxidative stress in an epidemiological setting.

Methods: The authors assessed exposure to particulate matter air pollution in four European cities in relation to levels of nitrite plus nitrate (NOx) in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) measurements in 133 subjects with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using an EBC capture method developed for field use.

Black carbon as an additional indicator of the adverse health effects of airborne particles compared with PM10 and PM2.5.

Background: Current air quality standards for particulate matter (PM) use the PM mass concentration [PM with aerodynamic diameters ≤ 10 μm (PM(10)) or ≤ 2.5 μm (PM(2.5))] as a metric.

An automated analyzer to measure surface-atmosphere exchange fluxes of water soluble inorganic aerosol compounds and reactive trace gases.

Here, we present a new automated instrument for semicontinuous gradient measurements of water-soluble reactive trace gas species (NH3, HNO3, HONO, HCl, and SO2) and their related aerosol compounds (NH4+, NO3-, Cl-, SO4(2-)). Gas and aerosol samples are collected simultaneously at two heights using rotating wet-annular denuders and steam-jet aerosol collectors, respectively. Online (real-time) analysis using ion chromatography (IC) for anions and flow injection analysis (FIA) for NH4+ and NH3 provide a half-hourly averaged gas and aerosol gradients within each hour.

Dependence of home outdoor particulate mass and number concentrations on residential and traffic features in urban areas.

The associations between residential outdoor and ambient particle mass, fine particle absorbance, particle number (PN) concentrations, and residential and traffic determinants were investigated in four European urban areas (Helsinki, Athens, Amsterdam, and Birmingham). A total of 152 nonsmoking participants with respiratory diseases, not exposed to occupational pollution, were included in the study, which comprised a 7-day intensive exposure monitoring period of both indoor and home outdoor particle mass and number concentrations. The same pollutants were also continuously measured at ambient fixed sites centrally located to the studied areas (fixed ambient sites).

Relationship between different size classes of particulate matter and meteorology in three European cities.

Evidence on the correlation between particle mass and (ultrafine) particle number concentrations is limited. Winter- and spring-time measurements of urban background air pollution were performed in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Erfurt (Germany) and Helsinki (Finland), within the framework of the EU funded ULTRA study. Daily average concentrations of ambient particulate matter with a 50% cut off of 2.

Effects of particulate air pollution on blood pressure and heart rate in subjects with cardiovascular disease: a multicenter approach.

Given the hypothesis that air pollution is associated with elevated blood pressure and heart rate, the effect of daily concentrations of air pollution on blood pressure and heart rate was assessed in 131 adults with coronary heart disease in Helsinki, Finland; Erfurt, Germany; and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Blood pressure was measured by a digital monitor, and heart rate was calculated as beats per minute from an electrocardiogram recording with the patient in supine position. Particle concentrations were measured at central measuring sites.