[Air quality assessment in an urban-industrial area: the Taranto case study].

OBJECT: The chemical-physical characterization of suspended particulate matter and particulate deposition, heavy metals and benzo[a]pyrene, found in the town of Taranto and the nearby industrial area (steelworks, cement production, refinery). DESIGN: Atmospheric deposition Bulks, air of High Volume (HV) samplers equipped with PM10 probe and total suspended particulate matter samplers were used. SETTING: 4 sites of monitoring in different urban areas: two of them close to the cokery, one near the school, and the last one in the town of Statte (Taranto). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Determination of suspended and deposition particulate matter concentration, further determination of heavy metal concentration in the suspended and deposition particulate matter, and determination of BaP concentration. RESULTS: Data evidenced that in the site of Tamburi Cemetery (near the cokery) suspended particulate matter PM10 concentrations vary with the different seasons (warm period: 67 microg/m3, cold period: 39 microg/m3). Lead concentrations are lower than the national limit (0,5 microg/m3); for those heavy metals not yet regulated by law, values are comparable with other industrial areas. Deposition particulate matter concentrations found nearby the steelworks (warm period: 699 mg/m2d, cold period 575 mg/m2d), vary in each different monitoring site. In the town of Statte (Taranto) the concentrations found are: 236 mg/m2d in the warm period, and 154 mg/m2d in the cold period. BaP concentrations for PM10 found in the area of Tamburi near the cookery are the following: 1,9 ng/m3 in the warm period, and 2,6 ng/m3 in the cold period. CONCLUSION: A very compromised situation is found in the area under study as regard air quality, especially the particulate matter in its different fractions and its content of organic and inorganic pollutants.