Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/60204
Title: Limestone surfaces in built-up environment as indicators of atmospheric pollution
Authors: Vella, Alfred J.
Camilleri, Alex
Tabone Adami, Jean Pierre
Keywords: Limestone -- Malta
Somatomedin
Sulfur dioxide -- Environmental aspects -- Malta
Air -- Pollution -- Malta
Soot -- Environmental aspects -- Malta
Issue Date: 1996
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Citation: Vella, A. J., Camilleri, A., & Tabone Adami, J. P. (1996). Limestone surfaces in built-up environment as indicators of atmospheric pollution. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 18, 165-170.
Abstract: The concentration of sulphate on limestone surfaces of the external walls of churches in Malta is shown to be related to their position and distance from a power station, the main local point source of sulphur dioxide pollution. Limestone powder collected from these surfaces was examined for the presence of particles which, under low-power optical microscopy, appear as shiny black amorphous bodies which were interpreted as soot particles; the abundance of these bodies was expressed as a 'black particle count' (BPC). The degree of sulphation and BPC were shown to be correlated with each other and both appeared to be strongly dependent on the prevailing wind. The BPC contour map indicated an important contribution to the parameter from vehicular traffic. It is suggested that the degree of sulphation and BPC of limestone surfaces from the built environment should function as environmental indicators of the relative air quality with respect to S02 and soot pollution. This data is possibly more accurately representative of the relative long-term air-quality status of different areas of habitation than that deduced from single or episodic measurements of atmospheric pollutant levels.
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/60204
ISSN: 0269-4042
Appears in Collections:Scholarly Works - FacSciChe

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