Organic extracts from airborne particles collected at various sites in Scandinavia have been tested for mutagenicity in the Ames Salmonella/microsome assay. Extracts from particles in the respirable size fraction (diameter less than 3 microns) were mutagenic with and without metabolic activation. The mutagenic activity varied from day to day, mainly due to variations in meteorological parameter...

Charging and coagulation influence one another and impact the particle charge and size distributions in the atmosphere. However, few investigations to date have focused on the coagulation kinetics of atmospheric particles accumulating charge. This study presents three approaches to include mutual effects of charging and coagulation on the microphysical evolution of atmospheric particles such as...

OBJECTIVE We compared the adverse effects of two types of real ambient particles; i.e., total suspended particles from an electrostatic precipitator of a steel mill and fine air particles from an urban ambient particulate matter of 2.5 µm, on mucociliary clearance. METHOD Mucociliary function was quantified by mucociliary transport, ciliary beating frequency and the amount of acid and neutral...

Urban particulate air pollution is a serious health issue. Trees within cities can remove fine particles from the atmosphere and consequently improve air quality and human health. Tree effects on PM2.5 concentrations and human health are modeled for 10 U.S. cities. The total amount of PM2.5 removed annually by trees varied from 4.7 tonnes in Syracuse to 64.5 tonnes in Atlanta, with annual value...

A novel fractionation method, based on both particle size and settling characteristics, was employed to examine metal distributions among five fractions. In-stream and stormwater runoff samples were collected from four land use types: highway, urban, agricultural (storm event and irrigation), and natural. Highway samples contained the highest dissolved concentrations for most metals, and freshw...

Loose particles on impervious surfaces are an important carrier to transfer pesticides into residential runoff water and subsequently contribute to contamination of urban streams and estuaries by urban-use pesticides. However, data regarding levels of pesticide contamination in the runoff-transferable dusts are scarce and their runoff potential and toxicity impacts to urban watersheds still rem...