Impact of building types and CHP plants on air quality (2019-2021) in central-eastern European monocentric agglomeration.

The quality of city air is influenced by many factors, including the density of buildings, the roughness of the terrain, the presence of street canyons, the heat sources in buildings, the types of industry, the topography, and meteorological conditions. Official air quality monitoring systems measure a very limited number of points, making local analysis impossible without the use of mathematical modeling programs. Here, we present an analysis of local air quality in an urban agglomeration. Data were collected over three years (2019, 2020, 2021), using commercial sensors located throughout the area of investigation. Dense downtown buildings equipped with individual heat sources were not found to have any impact on local air quality. The local municipal combined heat and power (CHP) plants contributed <1 ‰ of the measured concentration of particulate matter. Land height and the density of single-family housing were found to significantly affect air quality. We also took into account the influence of weather conditions, wind speed, and wind direction on the concentrations of particulate matter. High concentrations of particulate matter occurred only during heating periods when wind speeds were moderate. Wind direction did not have a direct impact on air quality, despite the expected benefits of ventilation through air corridors.

Assessment of Dust, Chemical, Microbiological Pollutions and Microclimatic Parameters of Indoor Air in Sports Facilities.

The aim of this study was to analyse the quality of indoor air in sport facilities in one of the sport centres in Poland with respect to microclimatic parameters (temperature, humidity, and air flow velocity), particulate matter concentrations (PM10, PM4, PM2.5, and PM1), gas concentrations (oxygen, ozone, hydrogen sulphide, sulphur dioxide, volatile organic compounds, and benzopyrene), and microbial contamination (the total number of bacteria, specifically staphylococci, including Staphylococcus aureus, haemolytic bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas fluorescens, actinomycetes, and the total number of fungi and xerophilic fungi). Measurements were made three times in May 2022 at 28 sampling points in 5 different sporting areas (the climbing wall, swimming pool, swimming pool changing room, and basketball and badminton courts) depending on the time of day (morning or afternoon) and on the outside building. The obtained results were compared with the standards for air quality in sports facilities. The air temperature (21−31 °C) was at the upper limit of thermal comfort, while the air humidity (RH < 40%) in the sports halls in most of the locations was below demanded values. The values for dust pollution in all rooms, except the swimming pool, exceeded the permissible limits, especially in the afternoons. Climatic conditions correlated with a high concentration of dust in the indoor air. Particulate matter concentrations of all fractions exceeded the WHO guidelines in all researched premises; the largest exceedances of standards occurred for PM2.5 (five-fold) and for PM10 (two-fold). There were no exceedances of gaseous pollutant concentrations in the air, except for benzopyrene, which resulted from the influence of the outside air. The total number of bacteria (5.1 × 101−2.0 × 104 CFU m−3) and fungi (3.0 × 101−3.75 × 102 CFU m−3) was exceeded in the changing room and the climbing wall hall. An increased number of staphylococci in the afternoon was associated with a large number of people training. The increased concentration of xerophilic fungi in the air correlated with the high dust content and low air humidity. Along with the increase in the number of users in the afternoon and their activities, the concentration of dust (several times) and microorganisms (1−2 log) in the air increased by several times and 1−2 log, respectively. The present study indicates which air quality parameters should be monitored and provides guidelines on how to increase the comfort of those who practice sports and work in sports facilities.

High Levels of PM10 Reduce the Physical Activity of Professional Soccer Players.

The aim of this study is to determine the impact of air quality, analyzed on the basis of the PM10 parameter in three regions of Poland, on the physical activity of soccer players from the Polish Ekstraklasa. The study material consisted of 4294 individual match observations of 362 players during the 2019/2020 domestic season. The measured indices included the parameter of air quality-PM10-and players' physical activities: total distance (TD) and high-speed running (HSR). Poland was divided into three regions (North, Central, South). The statistical analysis of particulate matter (PM) and athletes' physical activities, compared by region, revealed the effects in relation to the PM10 (H = 215.6566(2); p = 0.0001) and TD (H = 28.2682(2); p = 0.0001). Players performed better in regards to physical parameters in the North Region, where air pollution is significantly lower than in other regions. This means that even a short stay in more polluted regions can reduce the performance of professional footballers, which can indirectly affect the outcome of the match. Therefore, greater actions should be taken to improve air quality, especially through changes in daily physical activity, as this will reduce the carbon footprint.

Air Pollutants Reduce the Physical Activity of Professional Soccer Players.

The aim of the study was to determine the impact of air quality-analyzed on the basis of the model of integrating three types of air pollutants (ozone, O3; particulate matter, PM; nitrogen dioxide, NO2)-on the physical activity of soccer players. Study material consisted of 8927 individual match observations of 461 players competing in the German Bundesliga during the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 domestic seasons. The measured indices included players' physical activities: total distance (TD) and high-intensity effort (HIE). Statistical analysis showed that with increasing levels of air pollution, both TD (F = 13.900(3); p = 0.001) and HIE (F = 8.060(3); p = 0.001) decrease significantly. The worsening of just one parameter of air pollution results in a significant reduction in performance. This is important information as air pollution is currently a considerable problem for many countries. Improving air quality during training sessions and sports competitions will result in better well-being and sporting performance of athletes and will also help protect athletes from negative health effects caused by air pollution.

Average Hourly Concentrations of Air Contaminants in Selected Urban, Town, and Rural Sites.

The inhabitants of cities, towns, and villages are exposed to different levels of air pollution, which also vary throughout the day. Information regarding episodes of poor and good air quality enables planning to mitigate the risks and maximize the benefits of spending time outdoors. In this work, an analysis was made of the state of air quality 2012-2016, using data gathered from automatic measuring stations located in five cities (> 50,000 inhabitants), five towns (5000-50,000 inhabitants), and five villages (< 5000 inhabitants) in five neighboring provinces in central Poland, in Central Europe. The monitoring stations were designated as "city background", "town background", and "rural background". More than 3 million pieces of data were collected from 15 monitoring stations. This allowed the average daily changes in the concentration of air pollutants (NO2 and NOx, O3, SO2, CO, PM10, PM2.5, C6H6) to be determined, depending on the type of station and the size of the settlement unit in both winter periods and summer periods. As a result, the most and least favorable hours in terms of levels of air pollution were identified. This information could help to inform air quality management in modern cities, towns, and villages and to improve the quality of life, particularly among those most susceptible to the negative effects of air pollution, such as the elderly and children.

The influence of selected factors on leaching of metals from sewage sludge.

In Poland, the amount of municipal sewage sludge that contains both organic and inorganic pollutants increases steadily. As a result of penetration of atmospheric precipitations through sludge layers, products of biochemical decomposition of organic matter and soluble mineral compounds are washed away and form contaminated leachates (Arain, J. Hazard. Mater. 154:998-1006, 2008; Fang, J. Hazard. Mater. 310:1-10, 2016; Ignatowicz, Environ. Res. 156:19-22, 2017). Metals contained in these leachates may be particularly burdensome and dangerous, which is due to the toxic nature that disturbs the natural biological balance (Fytili and Zabaniotou, Renew. Sust. Energy Rev. 12 (1): 116-140, 2008). In order to check bio-availability of metals in sewage sludge and find out resulting risks to the environment and human health, apart from the determination of total metal content, speciation analysis is often used. It makes possible a quantitative determination of various chemical forms of metals which are bound in the sewage sludge and finding which of them poses the greatest threat to the environment (Amir, Chemosphere 59:801-810, 2005; Ciba, Waste Manage. 23:897-905, 2003; Hei, Procedia Environ Sci 31:232-240, 2016; Liu, Chemosphere 67(5):1025-1032, 2007).The degree of immobilization of selected metals in sewage sludge has been determined using one of the sequential extraction methods designed to identify groups of compounds with which the metal is bound. Such a method is the Tessier procedure (Janas, Pol J Environ Stud 26(5A):37-41, 2017). Results of this research were used to assess the threat resulting from the increase in the amount of sewage sludge; the management of which is subject to constant restrictions (storage of sewage sludge has been prohibited since January 1, 2016).As a result of the conducted research, it was found that metals in sewage sludge, which undergo various transformations, are very difficult to immobilize. The addition of calcium oxide and an agent supporting the composting process to the sludge does not affect radically the increase of leaching of the analyzed elements from the sludge. Graphical abstract The schema of proceedings in leaching of heavy metals from sewage sludge after various modifications.

Dispersion of atmospheric air pollution in summer and winter season.

Seasonal variation of air pollution is associated with variety of seasons and specificity of particular months which form the so-called summer and winter season also known as the "heating" season. The occurrence of higher values of air pollution in different months of a year is associated with the type of climate, and accordingly with different atmospheric conditions in particular months, changing state of weather on a given day, and anthropogenic activity. The appearance of these conditions results in different levels of air pollution characteristic for a given period. The study uses data collected during a seven-year period (2009-2015) in the automatic measuring station of immissions located in Eastern Wielkopolska. The analysis concerns the average and maximum values of air pollution (i.e., particulate matter PM10, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone) from the perspective of their occurrence in particular seasons and months or in relation to meteorological actors such as temperature, humidity, and wind speed.