The Effect of Meteorological Conditions on Air Pollution in Siedlce
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Faculty of Natural Sciences, Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, ul. Prusa 14, 08-110 Siedlce, Poland
Publication date: 2020-01-01
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Elzbieta Radzka
Faculty of Natural Sciences, Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, ul. Prusa 14, 08-110 Siedlce, Poland
J. Ecol. Eng. 2020; 21(1):97-104
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ABSTRACT
The objective of the work was to determine the influence of selected meteorological elements on the concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 in the air as well as arsenic, cadmium, lead and benzoapirene contents in PM10. The work is based on data collected by the automatic measurement station located in Konarskiego Street, Siedlce, in 2013-2017. ANOVA demonstrated that heavy metal content during the year was significantly influenced by the month of the year. The lowest concentration of arsenic was recorded from May to August, and cadmium from January to March as well as from October to December. Similarly to cadmium, lead content was the highest in the winter months (from October to March). Analysis of correlation revealed that air pollution was predominantly affected by air temperature, wind speed and air humidity. The relationship between air temperature and pollutant content was negative. As the temperature increased, arsenic, cadmium, lead, benzoapirene and PM10 contents declined. It was found that an increase in wind speed contributed to a significant decline in the concentration of PM10 and PM2.5. Moreover, wind speed affected heavy metal content. Relative air humidity influenced metal concentration from November to May whereas an increase in wind speed contributed to a significant decline in the concentration of only PM10 in the period from January to November.