The holiday location was the district of Brook, in the municipality of Kalkhorst in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. There, the air-Q was set up in the flat. Due to the pleasant temperatures of about 23 degrees Celsius on average, the door and windows were frequently opened and the rooms were thus well ventilated. With a consistently very high humidity of almost 80 per cent, this was also necessary.
particulates at the Baltic Sea
In the period from 10 - 15 August, an air-Q Pro recorded 14 different readings - including particulatesin the different sizes PM₁, PM₂,₅ and PM₁₀. At particulates, the finer the particles, the deeper they can penetrate the bloodstream and thus reach the lungs, the heart and, according to recent studies, the brain, causing lasting damage.
As an example, the PM₂,₅ particulate matter values were selected and evaluated. Since particulatesPM₂,₅ can penetrate even deeper into the body and the respiratory tract, the Federal Environment Agency applies an annual limit value of 25 μg/m³. For comparison - for the larger PM₁₀, an annual mean value of 40 μg/m³ and a daily limit value of 50 μg/m³ apply.
The results of the measurement course show that the particulate matter values were initially very high, especially on the first day, with up to 47 μg/m³. In the course of the second day, the values slowly decreased to more harmless levels until they finally reached an absolute low on 12 August, the third day there. With only slight fluctuations, particulate matter levels averaged below 10 μg/m³ on 12 and 13 August, until they rose steadily again from 14 August, reaching their maximum value of 43 μg/m³ one day later, before dropping slightly again. However, they still did not reach the low values of the previous days, but settled at around 35 μg/m³.
Conclusion: strongly increased particulate matter values
The measured values show that the air quality in relation to the particulatesin Brook on the Baltic Sea was not ideal. For the causes of these high values, only hypotheses can be made without more in-depth analyses. For example, the port of Lübeck is close to the measurement site and the ships arriving via Travemünde and their combustion exhaust gases can be seen from far away. At the beginning of the measurement, the wind blew mostly from the northwest, but later shifted to the northeast. It seems reasonable to assume that the wind blowing from the direction of the ships' entry lane carried the unfortunately largely unfiltered emissions from the ships towards the holiday resort at the beginning of the measurement. The improvement of the particulate matter values over the period correlated with the change in the wind in a north-easterly direction, which the air-Q immediately recorded. Further analyses on the coasts and near ports are definitely in order. In this respect, we would be pleased to receive air-Q measurement protocols for a joint evaluation.
Would you also like to measure the particulates values or your indoor air? You can order the air analyser in our online shop.
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