[The fine fraction of airborne particulate: a pollutant of increasing environmental and health relevance. Methodologies for sampling and characterizing single particles].
Among the atmospheric pollutants detectable in the environment, the inhalable airborne particulate (PM10) is regarded with increasing care. Indeed a number of epidemiological studies support the correlation between both acute and chronic adverse health effects and the PM10 pollution in the urban environment. According to recent results the health effects could be related to the physico-chemical characteristics of the particulate itself. With the aim of characterising the individual particles, PM10 samples collected by multi-stage cascade impactor are examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray microanalysis with energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS). The obtained data are analysed using multivariate statistical techniques (hierarchical clustering methods, principal factor analysis) to determine the components of the particulate. By these methods a series of studies was carried out by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità to investigate the PM10 pollution in several environmental situations.
De Berardis
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B
Laboratorio di Ultrastrutture, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma.
Paoletti
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L
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis* / Q000145:classification; D004577:Electron Probe Microanalysis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D010316:Particle Size
D000393:Air Pollutants