Assessing Air Pollution and Determining the Composition of Airborne Dust in Urbanized Areas: Granulometric Characteristics

The article focuses on the problem of atmospheric pollution in urban areas caused by particulate matter, which is a problem for most industrial cities. The work aims to assess air pollution by particulate matter PM₁₀ and PM_2.5; determine the composition of airborne dust in a zone free of any industrial activity; obtain statistical characteristics of dust distribution in the atmospheric air of urbanized areas according to granulometric characteristics. The issues of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 presence in the atmospheric air of urban and industrial centers in major European cities were analyzed. The degree of air pollution by PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 in the autumn-winter season 2020–2021 in Chelyabinsk city was assessed by gravimetry, considering the air quality standards valid in Russia and the European Union. It was found that the average concentration of particulate matter in the air of the urbanized areas of Chelyabinsk in the six months of the autumn-winter period 2020–2021 was 83 µg/m³ and exceeded the MPC (maximum permissible concentration) 2.1 times. The average value of the concentration of fine dust fractions for six months of the study period was 67 µg/m³, exceeding the MPC by 2.7 times. The obtained results indicate that there is a big problem of pollution, therefore it is important to apply the necessary actions to restore the state of air quality standards, which do not cause health risks to the population exposed to ultrafine particulate matter.