| The aim of this study is to survey the PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 concentrations
in rural and urban areas in Tehran province during cold, warm and dust
storm days from December 22, 2016, to June 5, 2017, using Grimm Model
aerosol spectrometer. During the study period, daily PM10, PM2.5, and
PM1 concentrations ranged from 27.2 to 244.96, 8.4 to 77.9, and 6.5 to
56.8 mg/m3 in urban sites, and 22.8 to 286.4, 6 to 41.1, and 2.1 to
20.2 mg/m3 in rural parts, respectively. Particularly, both daily WHO limits
for outdoor PM10 (50.0 mg/m3) and PM2.5 (25.0 mg/m3) exceeded in 95%
and 83% of the outdoor measurements in winter and 82% and 58% in
total sampled days in urban site, respectively. The 24-h average PM10 and
PM2.5 concentrations also exceeded by 59% and 18% in winter and by
36% and 14% of all sampling days in a rural site, respectively. During the
dust storm, the 24-h average PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 concentrations were,
respectively 4.7, 2, and 1.96 times higher than those in urban site and 2,
1.7, and 1.3 times more than those in a rural site in all sampled days. |