Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 3.6 Size of asbestos
fibres compared with other
materials
Fine sand
Fog
Bacteria
Asbestos
0.01
0.1
1
10
100
1000
Size range micrometers [um]
y = -0.0011x + 4.8495
6
Total Respirable Dust
(mg/m
3
)
R
2
= 0.4031
5
4
Total Inhalable Dust
(mg/m
3
)
Linear (Total Respirable
Dust) (mg/m
3
)
3
2
1
y = -5E - 05x + 1.49
R
2
= 0.0092
0
0
500
1000 1500 2000
Distance from the Crusher (m)
2500
Fig. 3.7 Level of respirable and inhalable PM in the stone quarry at Pomona (Zimbabwe) in
January 2011 [
35
]
3.3 Secondary Sources of Nanoparticles
Secondary sources of anthropogenic nanoparticles are among the most harmful
sources, although their contribution is smaller by comparison with both natural PM
and PM released during mining activities. If during the evolution of the biosphere
its constituents adapted to the impact of natural PM, even to dust containing
pathogens or toxic metals, through the parallel evolution of metabolism, PM
resulting from industrial activities is more recent, therefore much more harmful
to the living beings, both as a consequence of its diverse origins and its toxicity,
since man has synthesised millions of substances so far.
Figure
3.8
[
37
] shows that the European regions with the highest concentration
of atmospheric nanoparticles are grouped in the most developed Western European
states: Leeds-Manchester industrial zone (Great Britain), Belgium, The Nether-
lands and Luxemburg (almost entirely); the Paris region and the lower course of the
Seine (France), Ruhr Basin (Germany), the Turin-Milan-Venice-Florence area
(Italy), the Bohemian Plateau (the Czech Republic) and the coal region of Silesia
(Poland). In Eastern Europe, high concentrations of nanoparticles are found in the
Donetsk Basin (Ukraine), where large iron and coal deposits are explored [
38
,
39
].
Road transport is the major source of nanoparticle emissions released in the
atmosphere (Fig.
3.9
)[
37
].
Quite unexpectedly, the second major contribution to atmospheric pollution with
PM comes from point residential sources, not from the energetic sector. Relevant
