Publications by authors named "Ulla Makkonen"

Under the EU Air Quality Directive (AQD) 2008/50/EC member states are required to undertake routine monitoring of PM composition at background stations. The AQD states for PM speciation this should include at least: nitrate , sulfate , chloride (Cl), ammonium (NH4), sodium (Na), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC). Until 2017, it was the responsibility of each country to determine the methodology used to report the composition for the inorganic components of PM.

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This study addressed the scarcity of NH measurements in urban Europe and the diverse monitoring protocols, hindering direct data comparison. Sixty-nine datasets from Finland, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK across various site types, including industrial (IND, 8), traffic (TR, 12), urban (UB, 22), suburban (SUB, 12), and regional background (RB, 15), are analyzed to this study. Among these, 26 sites provided 5, or more, years of data for time series analysis.

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Risk assessment of pesticide impacts on remote ecosystems makes use of model-estimated degradation in air. Recent studies suggest these degradation rates to be overestimated, questioning current pesticide regulation. Here, we investigated the concentrations of 76 pesticides in Europe at 29 rural, coastal, mountain, and polar sites during the agricultural application season.

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European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) Technical Committee 264 'Air Quality' has recently produced a standard method for the measurements of anions and cations in PM within its Working Group 34 in response to the requirements of European Directive 2008/50/EC. It is expected that this method will be used in future by all Member States making measurements of the ionic content of PM. This paper details the results of a field measurement campaign and the statistical analysis performed to validate this method, assess its uncertainty and define its working range to provide clarity and confidence in the underpinning science for future users of the method.

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Aerosol hygroscopic properties were linked to its chemical composition by using complementary online mass spectrometric techniques in a comprehensive chemical characterization study at a rural mountaintop station in central Germany in August 2012. In particular, atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry ((-)APCI-MS) provided measurements of organic acids, organosulfates, and nitrooxy-organosulfates in the particle phase at 1 min time resolution. Offline analysis of filter samples enabled us to determine the molecular composition of signals appearing in the online (-)APCI-MS spectra.

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Atmospheric nucleation is the dominant source of aerosol particles in the global atmosphere and an important player in aerosol climatic effects. The key steps of this process occur in the sub-2-nanometer (nm) size range, in which direct size-segregated observations have not been possible until very recently. Here, we present detailed observations of atmospheric nanoparticles and clusters down to 1-nm mobility diameter.

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Several studies have shown that combustion-derived fine particles cause adverse health effects. Previous toxicological studies on combustion-derived fine particles have rarely involved multiple endpoints and a detailed characterization of chemical composition. In this study, we developed a novel particle sampling system for toxicological and chemical characterization (PSTC), consisting of the Dekati Gravimetric Impactor (DGI) and a porous tube diluter.

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There is increasing demand for renewable energy and the use of biodiesel in traffic is a major option when implying this increment. We investigated the toxicological activities of particulate emissions from a nonroad diesel engine, operated with conventional diesel fuel (EN590), and two biodiesels: rapeseed methyl ester (RME) and hydrotreated fresh vegetable oil (HVO). The engine was operated with all fuels either with or without catalyst (DOC/POC).

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The inorganic main elements, trace elements and PAHs were determined from selected PM(1), PM(2.5) and PM(10) samples collected at the Nordic background station in Virolahti during different seasons and during the wildfire episodes in 2006. Submicron particles are those most harmful to human beings, as they are able to penetrate deep into the human respiratory system and may cause severe health effects.

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Fine particle emissions from combustion sources have gained attention recently due to their adverse effects on human health. The emission depends on the combustion process, fuel, and particulate removal technology. Particle concentrations at Kraft recovery boiler exits are very high, and the boilers are typically equipped with electrostatic precipitators (ESP).

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Special episodes of long-range transported particulate (PM) air pollution were investigated in a one-month field campaign at an urban background site in Helsinki, Finland. A total of nine size-segregated PM samplings of 3- or 4-day duration were made between August 23 and September 23, 2002. During this warm and unusually dry period there were two (labelled P2 and P5) sampling periods when the PM2.

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