Air quality control monitoring at an urban and industrialized area

Air particulate matter analysis has been performed since 1999, within a contract for air quality monitoring of an urban waste incinerator. Air collection was made with Gent samplers, which collect size-fractionated aerosol samples in three sampling sites. Samples were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE). In this study some INAA results are discussed. PM₁₀ mass concentrations are compared with the limit values for human health protection regulated by the European Council Directive 1999/30/CE. Weekend day and weekday samples are compared concerning As, Co, Fe, K, La, Na, Sb, Sc, Se and Zn mean concentrations collected at Bobadela for 1999. Enrichment factors are also presented. Enrichments were found for As, Sb, Se and Zn for both fractions in the three sampling sites. In order to quantify the evolution for the 1999-2001 period, basic statistics was performed for the enriched elements. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.