Source apportionment of suspended particulate matter (PM₁, PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀) collected in road and tram tunnels in Krakow, Poland

Abstract

Here, we present the results of a comprehensive study of air quality in two tunnels located in the city of Krakow, southern Poland. The study comprised three PM fractions of suspended particulate matter (PM₁, PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀) sampled during campaigns lasting from March 14 to April 24, 2016 and from June 28 to July 18, 2016, in the road tunnel and the tram tunnel, respectively. The collected samples had undergone comprehensive chemical, elemental and carbon isotope analyses. The results of these analyses gave the basis for better characterization of urban transport as a source of air pollution in the city. The concentrations of particulate matter varied, depending on the analysed PM fraction and the place of sampling. For the tram tunnel, the average concentrations were 53.2 µg·m⁻³ (PM₁), 73.8 µg·m⁻³ (PM₂.₅), 96.5 µg·m⁻³ (PM₁₀), to be compared with 44.2 µg·m⁻³, 137.7 µg·m⁻³, 221.5 µg·m⁻³, respectively, recorded in the road tunnel. The isotope-mass balance calculations carried out separately for the road and tram tunnel and for each PM fraction, revealed that 60 to 79% of carbon present in the samples collected in the road tunnel was associated with road transport, to be compared with 15-33% obtained in the tram tunnel. The second in importance were biogenic emissions (17-21% and 41-49% in the road and tram tunnel, respectively. Sixteen different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been identified in the analysed samples. As expected, much higher concentrations of PAHs were detected in the road tunnel when compared to the tram tunnel. Based on the analysed PAHs concentrations, health risk assessment was determined using 3 different types of indicators: carcinogenic equivalent (CEQ), mutagenic equivalent (MEQ) and toxic equivalent (TEQ).