Comparison Between Industrial-Urban and Rural Particle Stations in a Ceramic Cluster (NE, Spain)

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the province of Castelln, in eastern Spain, has been one of the most important areas of floor and wall tile production on both a national and worldwide scale. As a result of this sector's productive rate of development (in the 1970-2005 interval), a series of pollution-producing chemical substances has been introduced into the atmosphere. The objective of this study is the comparison between industrial-urban and rural zones in this province, with the goal of establishing the causes of the contamination in order to apply corrective measures upon the different emission sources. Sustainable development is sought after to guarantee that, in the future, the environmental quality parameters fall within legal limits, ensuring the population's well-being as well as conserving natural ecosystems and material assets. Total suspended particles and PM10 are the parameters studied. The reason for choosing this pollutant type is because particulate matter may present a much higher potential risk despite its low representativeness as compared to the gas pollutant's group. A positive correlation between high particle concentrations and deterioration in public health has been shown in recent studies. The elements As, Cd, Ni, and Pb in PM10 were also analyzed to determine the toxicity of these particles. This study has demonstrated the different behaviors of the parameters studied at different types of stations (industrial-urban and rural), leading to the conclusion that anthropogenic factors are very important in the area studied and that they determine the area's air quality to a great extent.