Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Nanoparticles in European Cities
and Associated Health Impacts
Prashant Kumar, Lidia Morawska, and Roy M. Harrison
Abstract Atmospheric nanoparticles are a pollutant currently unregulated through
ambient air quality standards. The aim of this chapter is to assess the environmental
and health impacts of atmospheric nanoparticles in European environments. This
chapter begins with the conventional information on the origin of atmospheric
nanoparticles, followed by their physical and chemical characteristics. A brief
overview of recently published review articles on this topic is then presented to
guide those readers interested in exploring any specific aspect of nanoparticles in
greater detail. A further section reports a summary of recently published studies on
atmospheric nanoparticles in European cities. This covers a total of about 45
sampling locations in 30 different cities within 15 European countries for
quantifying levels of roadside and urban background particle number
concentrations (PNCs). Average PNCs at the reviewed roadside and urban back-
ground sites were found to be 3.82
10
4
cm
3
,
respectively, giving a roadside to background PNC ratio of ~2.4. Engineered
nanoparticles are one of the key emerging categories of airborne nanoparticles,
10
4
and 1.63
3.25
0.82
