The effects of air pollution on health have been generating attention for years. A large number of pulmonologists have recently expressed concerns about this in an open letter to Dutch Members of Parliament. Air pollution arises mainly in all kinds of combustion processes; in addition, atmospheric chemical reactions play a role in the formation of ozone and particulate matter. Health effects are both acute (increase in daily mortality and morbidity after days with increased concentrations of air pollution) as well as chronic (shortened life span and increased incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in areas with elevated concentrations of air pollution). These effects already occur at concentrations that are clearly lower than those currently observed in the Netherlands.

Air pollution and health

Relationships between air particulate matter capture efficiency and leaf traits in twelve tree species from an Italian urban-industrial environment.

Particulate matter (PM) deposited on Platanus acerifolia tree leaves has been sampled in the urban areas of 28 European cities, over 20 countries, with the aim of testing leaf deposited particles as indicator of atmospheric PM concentration and composition. Leaves have been collected close to streets characterized by heavy traffic and within urban parks. Leaf surface density, dimensions, and elemental composition of leaf deposited particles have been compared with leaf magnetic content, and discussed in connection with air quality data. The PM quantity and size were mainly dependent on the regional background concentration of particles, while the percentage of iron-based particles emerged as a clear marker of traffic-related pollution in most of the sites. This indicates that Platanus acerifolia is highly suitable to be used in atmospheric PM monitoring studies and that morphological and elemental characteristics of leaf deposited particles, joined with the leaf magnetic content, may successfully allow urban PM source apportionment.

How Does the Amount and Composition of PM Deposited on Platanus acerifolia Leaves Change Across Different Cities in Europe

https://northumbria-test.eprints-hosting.org/id/document/263387

Characterization of leaf-level particulate matter for an industrial city using electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis

Rice husk powder (RHP) is an agricultural by-product, and this research is carried out to incorporate RHP with natural rubber latex (NRL) compound and is foamed to make natural rubber latex foam (NRLF) using the Dunlop method. The tensile properties of modified NRLF is studied and compared with the controlled NRLF (zero RHP loading). The morphology and micro structural characterization has been performed by tabletop microscopy (TM1000). The tensile strength decreases at 2.5 pphr but increases again with increasing filler loading. Elongation at break decreases, whereas modulus at 100% elongation (M 100) and hardness increases with increasing filler loading.

Tensile and Morphological Properties of Rice Husk Powder Filled Natural Rubber Latex Foam

New tabletop SEM-EDS-based approach for cost-efficient monitoring of airborne particulate matter.

Space and time resolved monitoring of airborne particulate matter in proximity of a traffic roundabout in Sweden

Inhalable airborne Particulate Matter (PM) has been linked to adverse effects in the airways and cardiovascular system in humans leading indirectly to hospitalization and possibly premature death. The need to monitor these on a local level has recently been realized with the emergence of low cost tabletop Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) with high magnification possibilities offering a quick and easy way of analyzing PM down to 300 nanometres in size. The ease of use of these instruments makes them suitable for an untrained person to routinely monitor elemental constituents of individual particles and possibly linking them to inherent health risks. In this study particles from outdoor air were collected onto Polyamide filters and analyzed using tabletop SEM utilizing Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) to determine and identify their chemical composition. 341 particles were successfully characterized and classified in relation to their chemical identity and origin. The regional differences in the samples could be related to the location of sample collection proving that tabletop SEMs offers a possibility of air quality monitoring in relation to the particle impurities.

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Johanna Lundkvist

Papers

New tabletop SEM-EDS-based approach for cost-efficient monitoring of airborne particulate matter.

Space and time resolved monitoring of airborne particulate matter in proximity of a traffic roundabout in Sweden

A cost-effective method for monitoring airborne particulate matter using tabletop SEM-EDS