Humans are exposed to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs, specifically polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)) and perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs, specifically perfluoroalkane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)). They are used in consumer products found in cars, offices, homes and day care centers. Diet was earlier thought to be a major human exposure route for legacy POPs, but does not account for body burdens found for many new POPs and indoor exposure from air and dust has been hypothesized as also important. In this thesis, BFRs in air and dust, and PFAAs in dust from different indoor microenvironments in Sweden were analysed, and the results used to estimate human exposure. BFRs and PFAAs were detected in dust from all microenvironments and PBDEs in all air samples. BFR and PFAA exposure occurs mostly in peoples’ homes with toddlers having higher intakes from dust ingestion than adults. Inhalation and dust ingestion play minor roles compared to diet for humans with median exposures, but in worst case scenarios, dust ingestion may be significant for a small part of the Swedish population. Sampling using home vacuum cleaner bag dust and researcher-collected above floor dust was compared. Correlations were seen for ∑OctaBDE and ∑DecaBDE but not for ∑PentaBDE and HBCD. Higher PBDE concentrations were found in above floor dust but higher HBCD concentrations were found in vacuum cleaner bag dust. BDE-47 concentrations were correlated between vacuum cleaner bag dust and breast milk, indicating exposure through dust ingestion. Similar concentrations of PBDEs were measured in indoor and outgoing air from day care centers, apartment and office buildings. Indoor air explained 54-92% of ∑PentaBDE and 24-86% of BDE-209 total emissions to outdoor air in Sweden, supporting the hypothesis that the indoor environment is polluting ambient air via ventilation systems. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Accepted. Paper 3: Accepted. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

The production of ferrochromium alloys at Vargön Alloys AB contributes to formation of unwanted ferrochromium dust, which contains toxic Cr(VI). The dust is since summer 2005 treated with an iron-sulphate solution to reduce Cr(VI) to the non-toxic Cr(III). A year later the treatment technique was improved and disposal occurs in cells on the landfill. The cells can be up to 300 m3 and the edges can be made out of fro example concrete. Tests are conducted on the treated dust when it is disposed. The analyses show low contents of Cr(VI), which indicates that the reduction is successful. Analyses of leakage water from a small scale cell however showed an increasing content of Cr(VI) and pH under the first two months. This thesis has evaluated the new treatment method. An investigation was conducted to determine if the same changes have occurred in the full scale cells. Half of the 18 collected samples from the disposed dust showed high or very high contents of Cr(VI). The other half had a almost no detectable content. pH was over 12. No correlation between Cr(VI)-content and pH, conductivity, age or water content in the disposed dust could be shown. An experiment was also performed in small scale to reduce the number of influencing parameters. The results showed that if the dust has access to oxygen the Cr(VI) content increases during the first days from a few mg/kg dry substance to over 20 mg/kg dry substance, a level which was maintained during the rest of the experiment period. The content of Cr(VI) was almost constant at 4 mg/kg dry substance when oxygen was eliminated during the whole experiment period. When the water content was below 5 %, the content of chromium did not increase more. Since almost all newly created Cr(VI) is reduced to Cr(III) by the addition of ferrous sulphate, recreation of Cr(VI) occurs. Today there is now possibility to follow the changes in the dust from untreated to after disposed. The addition of iron-sulphate is based upon an average Cr(VI) content in the dust and the variation of disposal occasions can be significant. To determine if the increase in Cr(VI) is caused of an incorrect addition of solution a smaller disposal cell can be constructed. The initial content of Cr(VI) can be controlled and the dust can be examined during the time it ages. If the dosage could be improved the addition can be optimized. It is also important to minimize the infiltration and accelerate the drying of the slurry since the Cr(VI) content can increase the as long as the water content is high the Cr(VI) content can increase. / Vid produktionen av ferrolegeringar på Vargön Alloys AB bildas ferrokromstoft som en oönskad biprodukt, vilken innehåller hälsofarligt sexvärt krom. Sedan sommaren 2005 behandlas stoftet med järnsulfatlösning för att reducera Cr(VI) till mindre hälsofarliga Cr(III). Ett år senare förbättrades tekniken och deponering sker sedan dess i iordningställda celler på deponin. Cellerna rymmer cirka 300 m3 och har kanter av bland annat betongstöd. Provtagning sker på det behandlade stoftet i samband med deponeringen. Analyserna visar mycket låga halter av Cr(VI), vilket tyder på att reduktionen lyckas. Analyser av lakvatten från en småskalig provcell visade däremot att Cr(VI)-halter och pH ökade under de två första månaderna. Detta arbete har utvärderat den nya behandlingsmetoden. Undersökning huruvida samma förändring har skett i fullskaliga celler har utförts. Utav de 18 prov som inhämtades från det deponerade stoftet visade hälften på höga eller mycket höga Cr(VI)-halter och resterande hade nästan omätbara halter. I det deponerade stoftet var pH genomgående drygt 12. Inget samband mellan Cr(VI)-halt och pH, konduktivitet, ålder eller vatteninnehåll i deponerat stoft erhölls. Försök utfördes även i liten skala i för att minska antalet påverkande parametrar. Utan tillgång till syre var Cr(VI)-halten cirka 4 mg/kg torrsubstans under hela försöksperioden. Försöken visade att om stoftet har tillgång till syre ökar Cr(VI) från några mg/kg torrsubstans till dryga 20 mg/kg torrsubstans efter bara några dagar. Halten förblev konstant under resten av försökstiden. Ett samband som sågs var att när Cr(VI)- halten har stagnerat är vatteninnehållet i provet under 5 %. Eftersom nästan allt krom reduceras till Cr(III) vid tillsatsen av järnsulfatlösning har det nyreducerade Cr(VI) återbildats. I nuläget går det inte att följa hur stoftet förändras från obehandlat och vad som händer när det åldras efter att det har behandlats och deponerats. Tillsatsen av järnsulfat doseras efter en medelhalt Cr(VI)-innehåll i stoftet och variationen i Cr(VI)-halt mellan deponeringstillfällen kan vara stor. För att avgöra om ökningen av Cr(VI) beror på felaktig tillsatts av järnsulfatlösning kan en mindre deponeringscell anläggas. Ingående Cr(VI)-halter kan kontrolleras och stoftet kan undersökas medan det åldras på deponin. Visar det sig att dosering behöver förbättras kan tillsatsen optimeras. Det är även viktigt att minska infiltrationen samt påskynda torkningen av slurryn eftersom så länge vattenhalten är hög kan Cr(VI)-halterna öka.

Gaseous exhaust of different industries contains dust particles of different chemical precipitates that are harmful for the environment. Electrostatic Precipitators are very often used in industries to filter their gaseous exhaust and to prevent the atmosphere to being polluted. Electrostatic Precipitators are very efficient in their work. Electrostatic Precipitators use the force of the electric field to separate the dust particles from gaseous exhaust. Electrostatic Precipitators charge the dust particles and remove these particles by attracting these charged dust particles toward the collecting plates. The charging of dust particles requires a charging zone. When gas passes through that charging zone, the dust particles in the gas stream become charged and then these charged particles are attracted toward the collecting plates. The design of an Electrostatic Precipitators requires the knowledge of its working principle and the problems that often arise during its working. This thesis is the study of the working and the problems of the Electrostatic Precipitators. The main reason for problems in working of an Electrostatic Precipitator is the dust resistivity. This dust resistivity affects the collection performance of an Electrostatic Precipitator. This thesis also contains the simulation of an Electrostatic Precipitator. In the simulation part, the Electric Potential and the Electric Field of an ESP is modeled in an ideal condition, when no gas is flowing through the ESP. The industrial software Comsol Multiphysics is used for the simulation. A Comsol Multiphysics guide is given in appendix of this thesis report that provides information about using this software.

Norska pappersmassaindustrin Norske Skog Saugbrugs AS använder flera olika biobränslen i en bränslemix vid produktion av ånga för internt bruk. Biobränslen visar stora variationer i asksammansättning och producerad askmängd, varför syftet var att studera dessa i förhållande till bränslemixen, via en statistisk analys av Saugbrugs befintliga data. Rökgaserna från förbränningen renas med ett elektrofilter med tre avskiljningsfält för askstoftet, och en teori om fraktionering av aska från de olika fälten vad gäller innehåll av ekotoxiska metaller fanns. Provtagning, analys av partikelstorlek och laboratorieanalys av askstoft i rökgasen samt aska avskilt av de olika fälten i elektrofiltret var därför motiverat. Förbränningen som helhet alstrar stora mängder aska som sedan deponeras. En undersökning av alternativa användningsområden i enlighet med myndighetskrav för aska gjordes baserat på resultaten från den statistiska analysen och de fyra provuttagningarna. Att statistiskt sammanföra bränslena i en varierande bränslemix med asksammansättning gav litet resultat, men bekräftade att stora variationer finns. Askmängden varierade till följd av vilka bränslen som eldades, snarare än mängden bränsle. Det ackrediterade laboratoriet hade använt sig av två olika analysmetoder vars resultat visade olika koncentrationer för vissa ämnen. Multivariat dataanalys tyder på att koncentrationerna var likvärdiga mellan den gamla och den nya metoden, därmed berodde koncentrationsförändringen inte på Saugbrugs förbränning eller bränslemix. Den befintliga askan innehåller höga koncentrationer av arsenik, bly och krom, och är inte direkt lämplig för alternativ användning. Innehållet av ekotoxiska metaller beror troligtvis främst på förbränning av RT-flis, men till viss del även slam och eget avfall. Mikroskopisk analys av askproven visar att partikelstorleken minskar ju längre in i rökgasreningen askstoftet kommer, och kemisk analys visar en tydlig fraktionering mellan de olika fälten där halten ekotoxiska metaller ökar med minskande partikelstorlek. Askan i de två sista fälten innehåller kritiska koncentrationer av ekotoxiska metaller. Askan uppfyller därmed inte myndighetskrav för skogsspridning eller liknande, och särskilt arsenikkoncentrationen är mycket hög. Saugbrugs aska måste fraktioneras eller behandlas om den skall användas. Fraktionering av aska för olika ändamål kan vara möjligt, men variationer kan förekomma och bör beaktas. Lämpligast vid alternativ användning är att späda askan eller en askfraktion med en annan aska, eller kalk. / The Norwegian paper pulp industry Norske Skog Saugbrugs AS combusts a variety of biofuels in a fuel mix, producing steam for internal use. Biomass is often associated with large variations in ash composition and produced ash quantity, thus the aim was to study these in relation to the used fuel mix through a statistical analysis of Saugbrugs existing data. Flue gases from the combustion are purified with an electrostatic precipitator (ESP), which consists of three fields for ash trapping. Other studies have shown that fractionation of ash from the different fields regarding the content of ecotoxical metals is possible; therefore the study also included sampling, particle size analysis and chemical analysis of samples from ash in the flue gas and ash from the three fields in the ESP respectively. The combustion produces large amounts of ash which is landfilled. An investigation of alternative uses in accordance with regulations for ash was made based on results from the statistical analysis and the four ash samples. The statistical analysis of the fuel mix in relation to the ash composition yielded little results, but showed that large variations exist. The produced ash quantity also varied due to the type of fuel used, rather than how much fuel is combusted. The existing data was based on different analytical methods at the accredited laboratory resulting in different substance concentrations. With multivariate analysis it was concluded that the different concentrations are equivalent between the old and the new method, thus the change is not due to Saugbrugs combustion or fuel mix. The ash contains high concentrations of arsenic, lead and chrome, and is not directly suitable for alternative use. The content of ecotoxic metals in the ash is mainly due to combustion of demolition wood, but also to sludge and waste in some extent. Analysis of the samples show that particle size decreases as the ash moves further in the flue gas purification process, and a distinct fractionation between the different fields where the content of ecotoxic metals increase with decreasing particle size. The ash collected in the two last fields therefore contains critical concentrations of ecotoxic metals. The ash does not meet the requirements regarding forest spreading or similar, and the concentration of arsenic is particularly high. Saugbrugs ash must be fractionated or treated if it is to be used alternatively. Fractionation of ash for various purposes might be possible, although variations may occur and must be considered. The most suitable approach is to dilute the ash or ash fraction with another ash, or lime.

This thesis dissertation assessed workers who work in poultry barns and their occupational environment in relation to the type of bird housing in which they were exposed (cage-housed birds (CH) or floor-housed birds (FH)) and examined the environmental variables including dust and endotoxin and potential relationships to respiratory symptoms of workers. <p>A cross sectional study was undertaken to assess the environmental exposure levels and respiratory health effects of workers who worked in CH and FH poultry operations. The respiratory results suggested an asthma-like syndrome in these workers. Workers who worked in CH facilities reported greater current and chronic respiratory symptoms and significantly greater current and chronic phlegm as compared to workers from FH facilities. Workers from CH poultry facilities were exposed to greater endotoxin load than workers from FH facilities, but workers from FH operations were exposed to greater levels of total dust. It was found that endotoxin load (EU/mg) was a significant predictor of chronic phlegm for all poultry workers.<p>The effects on dust and endotoxin measurements when utilizing a Marple impactor with greased or ungreased impaction surfaces when sampling in an agricultural environment were unknown, and the potential for effects was tested. There were no significant differences in the aerosol mass median aerodynamic diameters between the greased and ungreased Marple impactors. Endotoxin analysis results appeared to be influenced by impaction grease particularly when very low amounts of endotoxin were present. <p>Size fractioning the dust and endotoxin using Marple impactors in CH and FH poultry operations showed that endotoxin load (EU/mg) was significantly higher in the respirable fraction of area samples in CH poultry operations as compared to FH operations. There were no differences in endotoxin load in the non-respirable size fractions for area samples between CH and FH operations. FH poultry operations had significantly greater dust mass and dust concentration in both respirable and non-respirable fractions for FH operations. There was significantly greater endotoxin load (EU/mg) in the 3.5-6.0 micron size fraction for the CH poultry operations as compared to the FH operations.

Atmosphärisches Aerosol kann den Strahlungstransport signifikant beeinflussen. Mineralstaub, der über der Sahara und anderen Wüsten in die Atmosphäre gelangt, ist das hinsichtlich der in letzterer dauerhaft verbleibenden Masse bedeutendste Aerosol. Darüber hinaus sind Saharamineralstaubpartikel nichtkugelförmig, und die Wirkungen dieser Partikeleigenschaft auf den Strahlungstransport in der Erdatmosphäre sind bislang nur ungenügend untersucht worden. Es werden die optischen Eigenschaften, Strahlungs- und Erwärmungseffekte von Saharamineralstaub unter Berücksichtigung der Nichtkugelförmigkeit seiner Partikel quantitativ untersucht, wobei der gesamte, im Hinblick auf den Strahlungshaushalt energetisch relevante Spektralbereich zugrunde gelegt wird. Zunächst werden auf Basis in-situ-gemessener Experimentaldaten die atmosphärischen Umgebungsbedingungen, Größenverteilungen, Brechungsindizes, Bodenalbedo und Partikelgestalt festgelegt, die in einem zweiten Schritt in ein Strahlungstransportmodell einfließen. Mit dessen Hilfe wird in umfangreichen numerischen Simulationen des Strahlungstransports in einer realistischen mineralstaubhaltigen Modellatmosphäre im Vergleich zu Messdaten beispielsweise geklärt, welche Partikelform und Größenäquivalenz angenommener sphäroidaler Modellpartikel am meisten realistisch sind. Des Weiteren werden im Zusammenhang mit der Partikelnichtkugelförmigkeit Sensitivitätsstudien zur Beantwortung der Fragen durchgeführt, inwieweit diese das Strahlungsfeld beeinflusst und zu veränderten Strahlungserwärmungswirkungen führt.

In Part 1, we separated surface ozone time series collected from EPA monitoring sites in and around Georgia from 1980-2002 using a Kolmogorov -Zurbenko Filter to assess the influences associated with characteristic timescales to the overall variability of ozone for individual communities. Comparison of time scale variabilities supports that the diurnal and synoptic variation are most influential timescales in small and large urban and rural locations, with the synoptic scale variation decreasing with the increase of urban size. We define boundaries of influence due to a communitys local chemistry and due to transport by utilizing the diurnal and synoptic ozone timescales respectively. We used the synoptic scale to evaluate the boundaries of similarity among sites that share synoptic scale trends due to transport. Results showed two-phased correlation decay with distance from urban centers. We evaluate the diurnal timescale as a means of evaluating the influence of an areas photochemistry, separated from long-range transport mechanisms. We consider isolation of the diurnal timescale extrapolated spatially for a relative sensitivity analysis based on ozone with respect to concentrations of the precursor group NOy. Results show differences base on urban scale and can define photochemical boundaries. In Part 2, a Particle-Into-Liquid Sampler with an anion/cation chromatograph (PILS-IC) was used to evaluate the fine particle desert dust mixed with urban pollution during the Asian Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-Asia). Three flights in the Yellow Sea boundary layer captured high mineral dust mixed with pollutants from Asian urban centers. Results report on the fine particle ionic compositions and chemical evolution of dust and pollution during those flights. The main component of water-soluble mineral dust was Ca2+ with Mg2+, which existed with significant fractions in the form of carbonates. Nitrate and sulfate measured after transport of nearly half a day, were connected to ammonium or potassium, the rest likely associated with mineral dust. Initial mass accommodation coefficients much less than 0.1 for uptake of SO2 or HNO3 by mineral dust in urban plumes containing fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions could explain the observations. The data suggest a dependence of accommodation coefficient on relative humidity.

Coastal atmospheric concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured at top of a building on campus of the National Sun Yat-sen University of Kaohsiung. Concentrations of 52 PAH compounds were analyzed in both gaseous and particulate phases in air samples collected from May 2008 through April 2009. PAHs diagnostic, Hierarchical Analysis (HCA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were employed to determine the potential sources of PAHs. The Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) was applied to relate atmospheric PAH concentration to air quality variables like SO2 and O3, as well as meteorological conditions like precipitation and temperature. During the sampling period the mean of total PAH concentrations was 14.2 ng/m3. Over all, PAH concentrations in winter were higher than summer, with the lowest concentrations of PAHs occurred in June (2.22 ng/m3), while the highest occurred in January (32.4 ng/m3). The night-time concentrations of PAHs are higher than daytime. The 2, 3-ring PAHs were mostly present in the gaseous phase, 4-ring were dominant in the gaseous phase, while 5, 6, 7-ring PAHs were mostly present in the particulate phase. During the Ghost festival and Asian dust storm events, atmospheric concentrations of PAHs and PAHs/TSP ratios were both found increased. Meteorological conditions, such as temperature and relative humidity, may strongly affect PAH concentrations, the gaseous and particulate PAHs correlate significantly with SO2, NOx, and PM10. Result from analyses of diagnostic rations, HCA and PCA, indicates the major sources of PAHs include gasoline and diesel exhaust. By using GMDH, a reasonable appraisal index was obtained for the pattern forecast potency with the meteorological and air quality variables. The GMDH algorithm obtained during 2008~2009 was tested in predictions and compared with what measured in 2007~2008.

How the dust cycle works on Mars is a key atmospheric issue, as the dust cycle is arguably the dominant cycle in the current Martian climate. In addition, how much is known about the Martian planetary boundary layer is mostly determined from models with very little in-situ data from contemporaneous studies to validate such boundary layer characteristic assumptions, and the model studies have not been able to define a known height for a possible boundary layer on Mars using ground-based investigations prior to this research. The Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs), however, show promise in offering a unique chance to take surface-based measurements to offer support for dust and boundary layer measurements made from remote sensors. There are three main objectives of this study: to constrain the late-afternoon maximum height of the boundary layer for both MER sites, to constrain the mean particle size and variance of the size distribution in the atmosphere, and to use these results to demonstrate that sunset and twilight imaging is a useful survey of otherwise difficult-to-determine parameters that are needed in several tools for studying Mars’ atmosphere. A modeling approach using twilight-based Sun imaging by the MERs (Sol 1959 for Spirit and Sol 695 for Opportunity) is used to constrain boundary layer and dust particle size parameters. After determining which parameters control which observables, resulting elevations and azimuths are matched up to specific observations from the available MER datasets. A Monte Carlo code produces the model that is then compared to Sol data with plotting of resulting error. Results include PBL height and structure estimations and plots along with generalized particle size information for each MER site on the given Sol. Figures show comparisons of this study’s particle size results with that of previous studies as well as maps of fit qualities for boundary layer parameters compared to a contemporaneous modeled scale height estimation. Results show promise for planning future MER-based campaigns and models.

Modeling the single-scattering properties of nonspherical particles in the atmo¬sphere (in particular, ice crystals and dust aerosols) has important applications to climate and remote sensing studies. The first part of the dissertation (Chapters II¬V) reports a combination of exact numerical methods, including the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD), the discrete-dipole-approximation (DDA), and the T-matrix methods, and an approximate method-the physical-geometric optics hybrid (PGOH) method-in the computation of the optical properties of the non-spherical particles in a complete range of size parameters. The major advancements are made on the modeling capabilities of the PGOH method, and the knowledge of the electromag¬netic tunneling effect – a semi-classical scattering effect. This research is important to obtain reliable optical properties of nonspherical particles in a complete range of size parameters with satisfactory accuracy and computational efficiency. The second part (Chapters VI-VII) of the dissertation is to investigate the de¬pendence of the optical properties of ice crystals and mineral dust aerosols in the atmosphere on the spectrum, the particle size and the morphology based on compu¬tational models. Ice crystals in the atmosphere can be classified to be simple regular faceted particles (such as hexagon columns, plates, etc.) and imperfect ice crystals. Modeling of the scattering by regular ice crystals is straightforward, as their morphologies can be easily defined. For imperfect ice crystals, the morphology is quite diverse, which complicates the modeling process. We present an effective approach of using irregular faceted particle to characterize the imperfectness of ice crystals. As an example of application, less-than-unity backscattering color ratio of cirrus clouds is demonstrated and explained theoretically, which provides guidance in the calibra¬tion algorithm for 1.064-µm channel on the Calipso lidar. Dust aerosols have no particular morphology. To develop an approach to modeling the optical properties of realistic dust particles, the principle of using simple shapes (triaxial ellipsoids and nonsymmetric hexahedra) to represent irregular dust particles is explored. Simulated results have been compared with those measured in laboratory for several realistic aerosol samples. Agreement between simulated results and measurement suggests the potential applicability of the two aforementioned aerosol models. We also show the potential impact of the present study to passive and active atmospheric remote sensing and future research works.