Ambient concentrations of C2-C12 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were hourly measured in Bursa which is the fourth largest city of Turkey. Two measurement campaigns were performed between September 14- November 6, 2005 and March 17 - May 10, 2006. A total 1667 chromatograms were generated during the study and 51 VOCs were determined in each chromatogram. However, only BTEX compounds were examined in this study.
In this study, BTEX concentrations increased from 05:00 am in the morning. The high concentration peaks were observed at 9:00-11:00 am. In the afternoon probably due to high mixing layer height, good dilution was occurred and lower BTEX concentrations were observed and peaks were delayed to 3 pm. Until the evening rush hour traffic, lower values were monitored. That is to say, diurnal pattern of the BTEX compounds were followed the traffic rush hours.
In the present study, correlations and ratios among the BTEX compounds were also investigated. High correlations observed for the BTEX suggest a common source. However, for benzene at the first campaign, other sources were found effective, apart from the traffic. Still, in the second campaign, benzene emissions were found consistent with the vehicular emissions.

This work presents a summary of the results obtained from the impact of the African dust on levels of atmospheric suspended particulate matter registered among different monitoring sites in the Madrid Air Basin, in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. African dust outbreaks were identified over the period 2001-2008. Lidar measurements helped to assess the temporal evolution of the dust layers and its impact on surface boundary layer. Monthly trend was analyzed resulting in a late spring-summer maximum occurrence of episodes and the most common synoptic meteorological situations causing the transport of the African dusty air masses were identified over the seasons. Time series of particulate matter daily concentrations recorded across Air Quality Network monitoring stations and sampling campaigns were collected and analysed. The contribution of mineral dust source in airborne particulates was estimated at the sampling campaign sites by means of receptor modelling analyses. Our results have shown that the contribution of mineral dust to PM10 (particulate matter lower than 10 µm, aerodynamic diameter) during African dust outbreaks is highly significant at rural and urban sites of the Madrid Air Basin, giving rise to exceedances of the PM10 daily limit value (50 µg/m3). Quantification of the emissions of mineral dust would help to establish efficient abatement strategies to reduce the concentration of PM10 with origin in anthropogenic sources, during African dust episodic days in which the PM10 DLV was exceeded in Madrid sites.

Airborne particulate matters with particles ≤ 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) were collected on quartz-fibre filters from 7 August 2008 to 18 June 2009 at Pico Mountain, Azores Island (Portugal). The samples were analyzed by the k0-based instrumental neutron activation analysis (k0-INAA) technique at the Portuguese research reactor. A total of 21 elements: As, Ba, Br, Ce, Co, Cr, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Mo, Na, Sb, Se, Sc, Sm, Th, U, Yb and Zn were determined in the airborne PM10’s and used as independent variables in the problem of factor analysis by the positive matrix factorization (PMF) method. The backward trajectory analysis using HYSPLIT (atmospheric modeling software) and the calculation of enrichment factors associated with the PMF were performed to identify the PM sources and to estimate their contributions to the particle mass concentrations. The results based on the data set in the studied period indicated that major sources contributed to airborne PMs at the Pico Mountain were soil, sea-salt, combustion and dust. The best solutions were found to be five factors for elemental compositions of the particulate matters. The comparison of the results in the present studied period with the previous obtained ones at the same sampling site has been presented and discussed to which the results have again confirmed that the Pico Mountain is a valuable sampling site for studies of long-range impact of source regions, particularly, the north and central American regions.

Considering particulate matter among the health-damaging air pollutants, the objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of road transport on levels of fine (PM_2.5) and coarse (PM_2.5-10) particles in urban area and to assess its polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon content and the associated health risks. Samples were collected for period of 40 days during 2007 at an urban site situated in Oporto metropolitan area in Portugal; 17 PAHs recommend by U.S. EPA as priority pollutants were quantified using microwave assisted extraction combined with liquid chromatography. The results showed that PM_2.5 and PM_2.5-10 daily means were 28.7 ± 9.8 µg m-3 and 13.9 ± 7.9 µg m^-3, respectively. The mean concentration of 17 particulate-bound PAHs (∑PAHs) was 13.3 ± 10.0 ng m^-3 in PM_2.5 and 1.0 ± 0.3 ng m^-3 in PM_2.5-10; PAHs with 5-6 aromatic rings were the most abundant compounds in PM_2.5 accounting for 70% of ∑PAHs. The estimated values of lifetime lung cancer risks considerably exceeded (220 and 44 times) the health-based guideline level. Finally, the results showed that evaluation of benzo[a]pyrene (regarded as a marker of the genotoxic and carcinogenic PAH) alone would underestimate the carcinogenic potential of the studied PAH mixtures.

Nine years (2000-2009) of MODIS aerosol data are analyzed in order to study the spatial and temporal variability of aerosol optical properties over the Iberian Peninsula. The focus is mainly on the aerosol optical depth at 550 nm, but also the Ångström exponent between 470 and 660 nm is analyzed. Based on a principal components analysis, three regions with similar aerosol properties variability are indentified. Among these regions, that corresponding to the western part of the Iberian Peninsula has been found to rule the global behaviour of the aerosol optical depth at 550 nm over the entire region. In this area a clear seasonal cycle, with maxima in summer and minima in winter, is observed. A similar behaviour is found for the whole region. The Ångström exponent shows an opposite variability cycle. In the other two regions, the seasonal cycle varies slightly and a displacement of the maxima and minima is observed. The analysis of temporal variability shows a decreasing and statistically significant trend in the aerosol optical depth along the nine studied years.