Avariety of air pollutants are causing considerable concern as a result of their known or suspected harmful effects on human health and the environment. Field measurements show us that the atmosphere always contains a significant concentration of particulate matter (up to 108 particles per cubic centimetre). These particles are thought to carry surface adsorbed carcinogenic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), but little is known about their exact chemical composition. It is, of course, expected that they will consist of inorganic elements, ions, trace metals, elemental carbon, organic compounds and water in a variety of proportions, depending on their sources. Of particular interest are particles that have an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10-5 metre (PM10 ), since they are able to penetrate deep into the lungs and are known to have adverse effects on human health. PM10 are produced from incomplete combustion processes, industry, construction and natural sources, and, in cities, the principal source is road traffic emissions, particularly from diesel vehicles.

This project, which is the first of its kind in Ireland, involves the characterisation of the processes that produce particles present in urban air. There are five major sampling sites operated by Dublin City Council, Cork City Council, and researchers at the National University of Ireland Galway. Automated 24-hour aerosol samplers have been installed at each of the sites since July 2001. Particles are collected on filters and sent to the partner laboratories for analysis. The University of Birmingham measures the amounts of elemental carbon and selected ions present in the particles. Analysis of metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by inductively coupled plasma ? atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and gas chromatography ? mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) respectively, are performed at University College Cork.

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Please Read Carefully Before Downloading

It is important for the EPA and the Environmental Research Community to know that the data and information products we distribute are useful to the user community we support. One way of doing this is by tracking the use of data and information in publications. Parts of or all of the datasets, data, or digital information products available here can be freely downloaded for further use in scientific applications under the condition that the source will be properly quoted in published papers, journals, websites, presentations, books, etc. Whenever possible the EPA strongly urge you to cite the use of these data, information, and web resources in the reference section of your publications. For convenience an automatically generated citation is available below which can be used immediately for citation purposes.

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Suggested Citation Information

The information supplied in the table below should be provided with all citations to this electronic resource. You are requested to format each of the fields below as required by the specific bibliographical style you are using.

An example of this citation in proper usage:

Jennings, G. Ceburnis, D.   "Nature and origin of PM10 in urban air". Associated datasets and digitial information objects connected to this resource are available at: Secure Archive For Environmental Research Data (SAFER) managed by Environmental Protection Agency Ireland https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/resource?id=68bac85b-2e5d-102a-b1da-b128b41032cc (Last Accessed: 2025-03-19)

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SAFER-Data Display URL	https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/iso19115/display?isoID=8
Resource Keywords	PM10 Urban sites small particulate matter
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Code	2000-LS-6.1-M1
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Theme	Environment and Health
Resource Availability:	Public-Open
Limitations on the use of this Resource	The data and its original sources should be clearly cited on all subsequent uses.
Number of Attached Files (Publicly and Openly Available for Download):	4
Project Start Date	Tuesday 6th June 2000 (06-06-2000)
Earliest Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Sunday 1st July 2001 (01-07-2001)
Most Recent Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Tuesday 31st December 2002 (31-12-2002)
Published on SAFER	Wednesday 28th March 2007 (28-03-2007)
Date of Last Edit	Wednesday 28th March 2007 at 11:26:16 (28-03-2007)
Datasets or Files Updated On	Wednesday 28th March 2007 at 10:28:37 (28-03-2007)

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Description of Geographical Characteristics of This Project or Dataset
Five sampling locations were selected to represent typical urban, rural and coastal environments . Two urban stations (roadside and background) were established in Dublin, and one in Cork (roadside). A rural site was established in central Ireland and an east coast site was set up to sample arriving air masses crossing the Irish Sea.Site A (53° 21' N, 6° 16' W) is an urban roadside site situated at College Street, Dublin. Site B (53° 21' N, 6° 17' W) is an urban background/centre Coleraine Street, Dublin Site C (52° 58' N, 5° 56' W) is a coastal site at Wicklow Head on the East Coast. The rural site (53° 21' 6'' N, 8° 18' 30'' W) is located in central Ireland. Site E in Cork (51° 53' 45'' N, 8° 27' 57'' W) a link road between Anglesea Street and the south city link road

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In this section some supplementary information about this resource is outlined. Lineage information helps us to understand why this project was carried out, what policy or research requirements did it fulfil, etc. Lineage is important in understanding the rationale behind the carrying out of a project or the collection of a specific dataset etc. Links to web sites, applications, papers, etc are outlined to provide you with additional information or supplementary reading about the project or dataset

Any links supplied by the resource owner are stored such that they will open in a new window. Following such a link may lead to a 3rd party website over which EPA has no control in regards to contents or suitability.

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The following is a list of projects, datasets, and resources on SAFER-Data from which users downloaded attachments from soon after downloading attachments from this resource Nature and origin of PM10 in urban air. You can view the full description for projects, datasets, and resources by using the links supplied.

• EPA Ireland Archive of PM10 Monitoring Data View Full Metadata Description
• EPA Ireland Archive of Ozone Monitoring Data View Full Metadata Description
• EPA Ireland Archive of Carbon Monoxide Monitoring Data View Full Metadata Description
• EPA Ireland Archive of Nitrogen Oxides Monitoring Data View Full Metadata Description
• Water Quality characteristics of road runoff View Full Metadata Description

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