Abstract:
Introduction. In 2021, a group of WHO experts developed new recommendations on
ambient air quality, which for the first time formulated very important provisions on
measures to reduce the concentration of ultrafine particles (UDF) in the environment. It is
important that the results obtained by us in the international project 3CE288P3
(DVR:0000191, V349) of the joint program "Central Europe" called "UFIREG" (Ultrafine
Particles — an evidence-based contribution to the development of regional and European
environmental and health policy) were taken into account to substantiate these provisions.
Purpose of the study. Introduction in Ukraine of a new methodology for measuring the
amount of UDF and assessing the risk of their impact on public health based on the current
array of information received during 2013-2020.
Material and methods. The SMPS spectrometer, which was used within the framework
of the UFIREG project, is capable of measuring in 8 intervals (10-800 nm) with a possible
measurement range of 1000-100 thousand km. particles in cm3.
Results. We have formulated the main methodological principles for identifying the
relationship between the quantitative concentration of UDF in the air and the state of public
health according to the data of 8-year monitoring. The average concentration of the total
amount of UDF in the atmospheric air of Chernivtsi for the period 2013-2020 was 9000
pcs/cm3. Its most pronounced increase was observed due to an increase in emissions in the
heating season, with the exception of 2018, where the opposite trend was detected. A
statistically significant increase in the total amount of UDF and individual fractions of
different diameters was observed in the autumn-winter period. The most pronounced
changes were found for particles with a size of 10-20 nm and 200-800 Nm. The analysis of
the average daily concentrations of UDF during the week made it possible to establish their
lowest values on Thursday in summer, and the highest on Wednesday and Friday in winter.
The maximum medium-diurnal concentrations on some days of January and February were
18000-20000 pcs/cm3.
Conclusions. According to the data of 8-year monitoring, on the basis of the identified
temporal regularities of the influence of meteorological factors on the formation and entry
into the atmospheric air of Chernivtsi of UDF with a size of 10 to 800 nm, approaches to
assessing their exposure, modeling the choice of confounders and determining the lag
structure during epidemiological studies have been improved. It has been proposed to
consider the level of the total amount of UFP (10-800 nm) 1000 pcs/cm3 low, and 10000
pcs/cm3 high.
