Influence of number of visitors and weather conditions on airborne particulate matter mass concentrations at the Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia during summer and autumn

Arh Hig Rada Toksikol. 2022 Apr 7;73(1):1-14. doi: 10.2478/aiht-2022-73-3610.

Abstract

We investigated the influence of local meteorological conditions and number of visitors on ambient particulate matter (PM) mass concentrations and particle fraction ratios at the Plitvice Lakes National Park between July and October 2018. Outdoor mass concentrations of particles with aerodynamic diameters of less than 1, 2.5, and 10 μm (PM1, PM2.5, and PM10, respectively) and indoor PM1 were measured with two light-scattering laser photometers set up near the largest and most visited Kozjak Lake. Our findings suggest that the particles mainly originated from background sources, although some came from local anthropogenic activities. More specifically, increases in both indoor and outdoor mass concentrations coincided with the increase in the number of visitors. Indoor PM1 concentrations also increased with increase in outdoor air temperature, while outdoor PMs exhibited U-shaped dependence (i.e., concentrations increased only at higher outdoor air temperatures). This behaviour and the decrease in the PM1/PM2.5 ratio with higher temperatures suggests that the production and growth of particles is influenced by photochemical reactions. The obtained spectra also pointed to a daily but not to weekly periodicity of PM levels.

Ispitivali smo utjecaj lokalnih meteoroloških uvjeta i broja posjetitelja na masene koncentracije atmosferskih lebdećih čestica (PM) i na omjere njihovih frakcija u Nacionalnom parku Plitvička jezera od srpnja do listopada 2018. Masene koncentracije mjerene su laserskim fotometrima. Vani su mjerene koncentracije čestica aerodinamičkih promjera manjih od 1, 2,5 i 10 μm (odnosno PM1, PM2.5, i PM10), a u zatvorenom prostoru koncentracije PM1. Oba fotometra bila su u blizini najvećega i najposjećenijega jezera (Kozjaka). Rezultati upućuju na to da su atmosferske čestice uglavnom potjecale od pozadinskih izvora, premda je primijećen i utjecaj lokalnih antropogenih aktivnosti. Naime, masene koncentracije povećavale su se s porastom broja posjetitelja i u zatvorenom prostoru i na otvorenome. Koncentracije PM1 u zatvorenom prostoru povećavale su se s porastom vanjske temperature zraka duž cijelog raspona izmjerenih temperatura, dok su koncentracije na otvorenom pokazivale ovisnost U oblika (rasle su s temperaturom samo pri višim temperaturama). Takvo ponašanje, zajedno s opadanjem omjera PM1/PM2.5 pri porastu temperature, upućuje na važnu ulogu fotokemijskih reakcija u produkciji i rastu čestica. Dobiveni spektri upućuju na dnevnu periodičnost razina PM, a tjedna periodičnost u spektrima nije bila vidljiva.

Keywords: anthropogenic PM sources; antropogeni izvori lebdećih čestica; bivariate polar plot; bivarijatni polarni dijagram; laserska fotometrija raspršene svjetlosti; light-scattering laser photometry; ponderirano osrednjivanje preklopljenih segmenata; weighted overlapped segment averaging.

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollutants* / analysis
  • Air Pollution, Indoor* / analysis
  • Croatia
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Lakes
  • Parks, Recreational
  • Particle Size
  • Particulate Matter / analysis
  • Weather

Substances

  • Air Pollutants
  • Particulate Matter