New Considerations for PM, Black Carbon, and Particle Number Concentration for Air Quality Monitoring Across Different European Cities

Abstract

C. RECHE, X. QUEROL, A. ALASTUEY, M. VIANA, J. PEY, T. MORENO, S. RODRÍGUEZ, Y. GONZÁLEZ, R. FERNÁNDEZ-CAMACHO, A. M. SÁNCHEZ DE LA CAMPA, J. DE LA ROSA, M. DALL’OSTO, A. S. H. PRÉVÔT, C. HUEGLIN, R. M. HARRISON, and P. QUINCEY 10.1 INTRODUCTION Health impact of ultrafine particles (UFP) has motivated a great deal of ambient aerosol research in recent years. Several studies suggest that UFP disproportionately induce oxidative stress in cells and are more toxic compared to larger particles of similar composition (Li et al., 2003; Nel et al., 2005). Research studies have indicated that fine particles may be more toxic because a large proportion of these particles are derived from trafficrelated, industrial, and domestic emissions which contain abundant transition metals (Anderson et al., 2001; Klemm et al., 2000; Schwartz et al., 2002; von Klot et al., 2002). Furthermore, UFP have also been suggested to be more toxic because of the large surface area available for biologic interactions with lung cells (Chio et al., 2008). Epidemiological studies (Akinson et al., 2010; Stolzel et al., 2007) have shown a clear association of urban nanoparticle exposures with adverse cardiovascular health outcomes.