Radioactive Aerosols as an Index of Air Pollution in the City of Thessaloniki, Greece

This study summarizes results of an investigation done in order to find out how the radioactive aerosols of 7Be could serve as indicators of air pollution conditions. Beryllium-7 is a cosmic-ray produced radionuclide with an important fraction of its production to take place in the upper troposphere. Once it is formed is rapidly associated with submicron aerosol particles and participates in the formation and growth of the accumulation mode aerosols, which is a major reservoir of pollutants in the atmosphere. In order to define any influence of AMAD of 7Be aerosols by air pollution conditions, the aerodynamic size distribution of 7Be aerosols was determined by collecting samples at different locations in the suburban area of the city of Thessaloniki, including rural areas, industrial areas, high elevations, marine environment and the airport area. The aerodynamic size distribution of 7Be aerosols in different locations was obtained by using Andersen 1-ACFM cascade impactors and the Activity Median Aerodynamic Diameter (AMAD) was determined. Some dependency of the AMADs on height has been observed, while in near marine environment the 7Be activity size distribution was dominant in the upper size range of aerosol particles. Low AMADs as low as 0.62 to 0.74 μm of 7Be aerosols have been observed at locations characterized with relative low pollution, while it is concluded that in the activity size distribution of ambient aerosols, 7Be changes to larger particle sizes in the presence of pollutants, since low AMADs of 7Be aerosols have been observed at low polluted locations. Preliminary data of simultaneous measurements of 214Pb and 212Pb with gaseous air pollutants CO, NO, NOX, SO2 and total suspended particulate matter (TSP) show that radon decay products near the ground could be a useful index of air pollution potential conditions and transport processes in the boundary layer.