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This digital document is a journal article from Atmospheric Environment, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
The mass concentration and the elemental composition of PM"2"."5 and PM"1"0 were measured in 40 rooms (mainly offices or mixed office-lab rooms, and photocopying places) of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, northern Greece. A total of 27 major, minor and trace elements were determined by ED-XRF analysis. The PM"2"."5/PM"1"0 concentration ratios averaged 0.8+/-0.2, while the corresponding elemental ratios ranged between 0.4+/-0.2 and 0.9+/-0.2. The concentrations of PM"2"."5 and PM"1"0 were significantly higher (by 70% and 50%, respectively) in the smokers' rooms compared to the non-smokers' places. The total elemental concentrations were also higher in the smokers' rooms (11.5 vs 8.2@mgm^-^3 for PM"2"."5, and 10.3 vs 7.6@mgm^-^3 for PM"2"."5"-"1"0). Fine particle concentrations (PM"2"."5) were found to be quite proportional to smoking strength. On the contrary, the two environments exhibited similar coarse (PM"2"."5"-"1"0) particle fractions not related to the number of cigarettes smoked. A slight decrease of particle concentrations with increasing the floor level was also observed, particularly for PM"2"."5, suggesting that high-level floors are less impacted by near ground-level sources like traffic emissions. Finally, the removal efficiency of air purification systems was evaluated.