AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Impact of the Economic Crisis on Wintertime Air Quality in Thessaloniki, Greece
ARIAN SAFFARI, Nancy Daher, Constantini Samara, Dimitra Voutsa, Athanasios Kouras, Evangelia Manoli, Olga Karagkiozidou, Christos Vlachokostas, Nicolas Moussiopoulos, Martin Shafer, James Schauer, Constantinos Sioutas, University of Southern California
Abstract Number: 164 Working Group: Biomass Burning Aerosol: From Emissions to Impacts
Abstract During the period of Greek financial crisis, switching from fuel oil burning for domestic heating to uncontrolled biomass burning has caused significant air quality deterioration in Thessaloniki. In this study, urban PM2.5 samples were collected in Thessaloniki during the wintertime of 2012 and 2013 along with a subset of morning and evening samples to determine the diurnal variations. Chemical composition including metals and elements, ions, carbonaceous species and speciated organic compounds were quantified. Redox activity was also assessed by the biological reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay. PM2.5 mass concentration increased by 2-fold during the evening compared to the morning, likely due to the increased emissions from residential heating sources. PM2.5 mass concentration in 2013 has also increased by 30% compared to 2012. Organic matter (OM) was the dominant PM constituent with higher evening-time contribution to the total mass compared to the morning, which is mostly due to the increased wood smoke emissions in the evening time. Concentrations of V and Ni (tracers of residual/fuel oil combustion) dropped by 30-50% in 2013. The concentration of K, on the other hand, increased by 2-fold in 2013 suggesting that the residential heating method in Thessaloniki is changing from the conventional fuel oil burning to the less expensive wood and biomass combustion. Concentrations of levoglucosan, mannosan and galacsosan (organic tracers of wood smoke), were considerably (4-6 fold) higher in 2013 compared to 2012, which implies a significant increase in wood and biomass burning in 2013 compared to 2012. Concentrations were also 3-4 times higher in the evening compared to the morning. Moreover, positive correlations were observed between ROS activity and water-soluble potassium, levoglucosan and galactosan (R=0.74, 0.72 and 0.75, respectively), which indicates a potentially significant effect of wood smoke emissions on the redox activity of PM2.5.