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Particulate matter in the indoor and outdoor air of a gymnasium and a fronton

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Abstract

An indoor/outdoor monitoring programme of PM10 was carried out in two sports venues (a fronton and a gymnasium). Levels always below 50 μg m−3 were obtained in the fronton and outdoor air. Due to the climbing chalk and the constant process of resuspension, concentrations above 150 μg m−3 were registered in the gymnasium. The chalk dust contributed to CO3 2− concentrations of 32 ± 9.4 μg m−3 in this sports facility, which represented, on average, 18 % of the PM10 mass. Here, the carbonate levels were 128 times higher than those registered outdoors. Much lower concentrations, around 1 μg m−3, were measured in the fronton. The chalk dust is also responsible for the high Mg2+ concentrations in the gym (4.7 ± 0.89 μg m−3), unfolding a PM10 mass fraction of 2.7 %. Total carbon accounted for almost 30 % of PM10 in both indoor spaces. Aerosol size distributions were bimodal and revealed a clear dependence on physical activities and characteristics of the sports facilities. The use of climbing chalk in the gymnasium contributed significantly to the coarse mode. The average geometric mean diameter, geometric standard deviation and total number of coarse particles were 0.77 μm, 2.79 cm−3 and 28 cm−3, respectively.

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Abbreviations

EC:

Elemental carbon

EDS:

Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer

FE-SEM:

Field emission scanning electron microscopy

GMD:

Geometric mean diameter

IAQ:

Indoor air quality

OC:

Organic carbon

PC:

Pyrolysed organic carbon

PCASP:

Passive cavity aerosol spectrometer probe

PM:

Particulate matter

TC:

Total carbon

VOCs:

Volatile organic compounds

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Acknowledgments

This study was partially funded by the Centre of Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) of the University of Aveiro (PEst-C/MAR/LA0017/2013) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grant TEC2010-19241-C02-01). The electron microscopy analyses were conducted at CNME-UCM through the AEROCLIMA project (Fundación Ramón Areces). Ana Calvo acknowledges the postdoctoral grant SFRH/BPD/64810/2009 from the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT). We would also like to thank Darrel Baumgardner (Droplet Measurement Technologies, Boulder) for their valuable comments and support on the PCASP data corrections. Thanks to the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, University of León, for allowing us the access to the sports facilities and also to Guillermo Arias and Elisa Estapé for their kindness and availability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environment and Marine Studies, Department of Environment, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Célia Alves, Liliana Marques & Teresa Nunes

  2. Department of Physics (IMARENAB), University of León, 24071, León, Spain

    Ana I. Calvo, Amaya Castro & Roberto Fraile

  3. Department of the Environment, Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology Research (CIEMAT), 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Esther Coz

Authors
  1. Célia Alves
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  2. Ana I. Calvo
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  7. Roberto Fraile
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Correspondence to Célia Alves.

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Alves, C., Calvo, A.I., Marques, L. et al. Particulate matter in the indoor and outdoor air of a gymnasium and a fronton. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 12390–12402 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3168-1

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