AIR POLLUTION LEVELS IN AN URBAN-RESIDENTIAL SITE ADJACENT TO INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES

Industrial activities play an important role in the air quality and can lead to the degradation of the ambient air quality, thus affecting both workers and people living within adjacent residential areas. The aim of the present research was to measure and evaluate the air pollution levels an urban site, in north Greece, adjacent to an industrial zone. Concentrations of major primary and secondary air pollutants, i.e. fine and coarse particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide and ozone were measured within a urban area neighboring a phosphoric fertilizer industry and an oil desulfurization plant, for a 6 -month period, from June to December 2018. During the sampling period, no exceedances of the legislative limits were recorded for PM -10, PM -2.5, NO2 and CO concentrations, whereas O-3 and SO2 concentrations exceeded the air quality standards in individual cases. The elevated NOx and. SO2 concentrations that were associated with wind directions from specific industrial sources suggest clearly the important role of the emissions of the industrial activities in the profile of the ambient air quality of the wider area. Average O-3 concentrations in the order of 129,4 g/m(3) were measured during periods of high ambient temperature, and were significantly higher than the average concentration of 73.4 g/m(3) measured during the entire sampling period. Moreover, the diurnal variation of O-3 during the hot periods, proves the crucial role of the photochemistry to the establishment of elevated ozone concentrations in the early afternoon hours of hot summer days and suggests that O-3 pollution is probably a predominant characteristic of the area especially during summer.