Composition and Sources of Particulate Air Pollution in a Port Environment, Cork, Ireland

Report for the STRIVE-funded project: 2006-EH-MS-49

Summary: STRIVE Report 71 - Ian P. O’Connor

A twenty-eight month air pollution measurement campaign was performed between 2007 and 2009 at two selected sites, Tivoli Docks (upper harbour) and Haulbowline Naval Base (mid-harbour) in Cork Harbour. Off-line chemical analyses of the PM2.5 constituents were complemented by real-time and semi-continuous measurements of particulate-phase elemental carbon, organic carbon and sulfate. These quantitative measurements together with knowledge on the internal mixing state of particles, using single particle mass spectrometry, allowed statistical analyses to be performed in order to estimate both the relative and absolute contributions to ambient PM2.5 mass concentrations of the various sources of airborne pollution in Cork Harbour. Key findings include:

• Vehicular traffic was determined to be the largest single source category (23%) of ambient PM2.5 at the Tivoli Docks site. It was possible to attribute 66% of the PM2.5 mass measured at Tivoli Docks during an intensive summer campaign to specific source categories.
• Domestic solid fuel (DSF) combustion was the most significant source of ambient particulate pollution at the Tivoli Docks in winter, with estimated contributions of 75% and 30% to organic carbon and PM2.5 mass respectively. Thus, this source remains a major contributor to PM2.5 despite existing abatement strategies.

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