Air pollution studies.

The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the research in the area of air pollution, carried out exclusively at the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health and performed by the scientists of the Institute. For the past fifty years, air quality has been studied at work, in the ambient air of urban and industrial areas, and in various indoor environments without occupational exposure. Methods for sampling and measuring air pollutants have been introduced or developed and verified.

Human Exposure Assessment Location (HEAL)--historical review.

The first part of the review describes events and newly acquired knowledge that anticipated the making of the HEAL project and its preparatory phase. The pilot study relied on the belief that the total exposure assessment should take into account different pollutants and their relative contribution in the human intake from different environmental media such as air, drinking water, food chain, and soil. The pilot study included exposure assessment to lead and cadmium, nitrogen dioxide, hexachlorobenzene, and DDT-complex.

Assessment of human inhalation exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

The aim of the investigation was to find a suitable approach for assessing inhalation exposure of urban inhabitants to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in air. Personal exposure to PAHs of fifteen subjects, Zagreb inhabitants, was measured over a week in summer and again in winter. All subjects kept a diary of motion and activities and filled in a questionnaire on the characteristics of their fiat and household members.

Monitoring of personal exposure to air pollutants. Subjects' experience.

Seventeen volunteers, employees of a scientific institute, were involved in the monitoring of personal exposure to lead and cadmium in the ambient air. Thirteen of them answered a questionnaire concerning own behavior and difficulties encountered while wearing a personal sampler. Most subjects admitted that wearing the sampler and especially the noise produced by the pump made them avoid certain activities.

Diurnal cycle of SO2 concentrations in Rijeka and its relation to maximum and average daily concentrations.

Continuous recording of SO2 concentrations at one site in Rijeka in the heating season has shown that in spite of geographic and climatic differences, the pattern of diurnal cycle of SO2 concentrations does not differ from that recorded in Zagreb and in other towns with a temperate climate. The pattern is characterized by two peaks: a higher one in the morning that represents daily maximum and a lower one in the afternoon that is a good approximation of daily mean. Accordingly, maximum and mean daily concentrations could be assessed by short-term samples collected over given periods (8-10 and 15-18 h).