This book presents the most up-to-date research and information regarding the origin, chemistry, fate and health impacts of airborne particulate matter in urban areas, a topic which has received a great deal of attention in recent years due to documented relationships between exposure and health effects such as asthma. With internationally recognised researchers and academics presenting their work and key concepts and approaches from a variety of disciplines, including environmental and analytical chemistry, biology, toxicology, mineralogy and the geosciences, this book addresses the topic of urban airborne particulate matter in a comprehensive, multidisciplinary manner. Topics and research addressed in the book range from common methodological approaches used to sample and analyse the composition of airborne particulates to our knowledge regarding their potential to impact human health and the various policy approaches taken internationally to regulate particulate matter levels.
Environmental Science and Engineering Environmental Science
For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/7487
Fathi Zereini Clare L. S. Wiseman Volume Editors
Urban Airborne Particulate Matter Origin, Chemistry, Fate and Health Impacts
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Volume Editors Prof. Dr. Fathi Zereini Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences Department of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, J. W. Goethe-University Altenhöferallee 1 D-60438 Frankfurt am Main Germany e-mail:
[email protected]
Dr. Clare L. S. Wiseman Adaptation and Impacts Research Group (AIRG) Institute for Environmental Studies (IES) University of Toronto Willcocks Street 33 M5S 3E8 Toronto ON, Canada e-mail:
[email protected]
ISSN 1863-5520 ISBN 978-3-642-12277-4
e-ISBN 978-3-642-12278-1
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-12278-1 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010934783 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: deblik, Berlin Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
Particles have been a recognized ingredient in polluted air for decades if not centuries. Despite the fact that their atmospheric concentrations have decreased substantially in developed countries over the last 50+ years, due to government policies and evolving technologies, particles continue to be a high priority environmental issue. This is because of growing evidence, starting in the early 1990s, of significant health effects at lower ambient concentrations than expected and because of the recognition that our understanding of their net effect in regulating the Earth’s climate is insu