Standardisation of a European measurement method for organic carbon and elemental carbon in ambient air: results of the field trial campaign and the determination of a measurement uncertainty and working range.

The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) Technical Committee 264 'Air Quality' has recently produced a standard method for the measurements of organic carbon and elemental carbon in PM2.5 within its working group 35 in response to the requirements of European Directive 2008/50/EC. It is expected that this method will be used in future by...

Emissions and possible environmental Implication of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in the atmosphere

In spite of the still increasing number of engineered nanomaterial (ENM) applications, large knowledge gaps exist with respect to their environmental fate, especially after release into air. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge of emissions and behavior of airborne engineered nanomaterials. The whole ENM lifecycle is considered...

Dustiness and deagglomeration testing: Interlaboratory comparison of systems for nanoparticle powders

Different types of aerosolization and deagglomeration testing systems exist for studying the properties of nanomaterial powders and their aerosols. However, results are dependent on the specific methods used. In order to have well-characterized aerosols, we require a better understanding of how system parameters and testing conditions influence...

Elemental composition of particulate matter and the association with lung function

BACKGROUND: Negative effects of long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) on lung function have been shown repeatedly. Spatial differences in the composition and toxicity of PM may explain differences in observed effect sizes between studies. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter study in 5 European birth cohorts - BAMSE (Sweden), GINIplus and...

Field and Laboratory Measurements Related to Occupational and Consumer Exposures

Measurement of the oxidative potential of PM2.5 and its constituents: The effect of extraction solvent and filter type

The capacity of Particulate Matter (PM) to oxidise target molecules, defined as its oxidative potential (OP), has been proposed as a biologically more relevant metric than PM mass. Different assays exist for measuring OP and their methodologies vary in the choice of extraction solvent and filter type. Little is known about the impact of...

Luchtkwaliteit meten, kan dat beter? - Het AirMonTech project en database

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Examples and Case Studies

Release of nanomaterials may occur during any stage of the life-cycle and can eventually lead to exposure to humans, the environment or products. Due to the large number of combinations of release processes and nanomaterials, release scenarios can currently only be tested on a case-by-case basis. This chapter presents five case studies on...

Air Quality Monitoring Strategies for Urban Areas – A Data Base on New Monitoring Technologies, New Metrics and Proxies

Urban air quality monitoring networks are requested to provide accurate and relevant data on air pollution levels which serve as basis to assess limit value compliance and the need of mitigation actions. Scientific and technological progress as well as new epidemiological and toxicological research results trigger a continuous demand to re...

Sea salt concentrations across the European continent

The oceans are a major source for particles that play an important role in many atmospheric processes. In Europe sea salt may contribute significantly to particulate matter concentrations. We have compiled sodium concentration data as a tracer for sea salt for 89 sites in Europe to provide more insight in the distribution of sea salt across...

Measurement of Elemental and Organic Carbon in Europe

The new Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC is asking in Annex IX that elemental (EC) and organic (OC) carbon as well as soluble ions should be measured at selected background sites in each Member State. Several methods (thermal, optical or photo-acoustic methods) to determine elemental and organic carbon exist which do not always deliver...