Níveis e razão do material particulado (PM2,5 e PM10) em quatro cidades do Rio Grande do Sul com diferentes atividades econômicas predominantes

Abstract

Air pollutants, primarily particulate matter (PM), have been actively researched in recent decades because they are related to some cardiorespiratory diseases as well as other pathologies, such as cerebrovascular diseases, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, autism and also diabetes. PM is influenced by space-time variations such as weather conditions, traffic intensity, population, land use and distance from roads and are classified by their size into PM10 (particles smaller than 10 μm) and PM2.5 (particles smaller than 10 μm) and PM2.5 (particles smaller than 2.5 μm). The ratio between particles of different sizes can indicate sources of moisture contribution as well as being influenced by seasonality and adverse conditions. In view of this, the objective of the present study was to analyze the levels and the ratio between PM2.5 and PM10 in four municipalities in the southern half of Rio Grande do Sul, considering as factors of influence their economic activity predominantly, seasonality and moderate variations. The study areas were the cities of Candiota, Herval, Pelotas and Rio Grande. Tukey p<5% tests, multiple linear regression, two-way anova, and a principal component analysis (PCA) were performed. As a result, among the investigated years, in all trained municipalities, year 1 had a PM2.5/PM10 ratio significantly higher than year 2, with the highest ratio being in Candiota, followed by Herval, Pelotas and Rio Grande, while declared winter was the season with the highest PM2.5/PM10 ratio for the two years investigated. As for these variables most certainly correlated with cities, they were relative humidity, temperature and rainfall, that is, the greater these variables are, the greater the PM2.5/PM10 ratio. The variables with an inverse effect were the UV index, atmospheric pressure and wind speed, therefore, the greater these variants, the lower the PM2.5/PM10 ratio. Finally, it can be concluded that economic activity and the variables directly influence the dynamics sources in science cities.