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Airborne particulate matter such as mineral dust comes mainly from natural sources, and the African regions of Sahara and Sahel originate large amounts of the aerosols dispersed worldwide. There is little knowledge about the influence of dust episodes on airborne pollen concentrations, and although the centre and southeast of the Iberian Peninsula are frequently affected by dust intrusions, until now, no specific works have analysed the effect of these episodes on airborne pollen concentrations in these areas. The aims of this study were to analyse the simultaneous occurrence of airborne pollen peaks and Saharan-Sahel dust intrusions in the central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula, and to study the weather conditions – air mass pathways and conditions of air temperature, relative humidity and atmospheric pressure – that influence the airborne pollen concentrations during dust episodes. The results showed that the rise in airborne pollen concentrations during dust episodes is apparent in inland Iberian areas, although not in coastal areas in the southeast where pollen concentrations are even observed to decrease, coinciding with prevailing easterly winds from the sea. Total pollen concentrations and specific pollen types such as Olea, Poaceae and Quercus showed an increase in the central Iberian Peninsula during dust episodes when two meteorological phenomena concur: 1) prevailing winds from extensive areas of major wind-pollinated pollen sources over a medium or short distance (mainly from western and southwestern areas); and 2) optimal meteorological conditions that favour pollen release and dispersal into the atmosphere (mainly high temperatures and subsequently low humidity in central areas). Both conditions often occur during the Saharan-Sahel dust intrusions in the centre. Maximum pollen peaks are therefore most likely to occur during dust episodes in the central Iberian Peninsula, thus dramatically increasing the risk of outbreaks of pollinosis and other respiratory diseases in the population.

The global consumption of plastic is increasing year by year. The usage of plastic materials may generate small plastic fragments known as microplastics (MPs) which affect the quality of the air we breathe. In this study, a procedure based on thermogravimetry coupled to mass spectrometry (TGA-MS) has been developed to quantify polystyrene (PS) microplastics found in the atmosphere nearby an agricultural area. The quantification of PM10 fractions of airborne PS microplastics has been scarcely studied. For this purpose, around 50 mg of the fiberglass filters used for the airborne sample collection were pyrolyzed on the TGA instrument (40–800 °C) at 10 °C min−1. At the same time, sample mass loss and MS signal intensity of typical PS pyrolysis compounds were recorded. Limits of detection and quantification were 7.7 and 25.8 ng m−3, respectively. PS microplastic has been found in the studied atmosphere area at an average of 35.97 ng m−3, the potential contamination source being mainly related to agricultural activities. This works shows the potential of the hyphenated TGA-MS methodology as a complementary technique for microplastics characterization.

The Olea pollen is currently an important allergy source. In some regions of Southern Spain, olive pollen is the main cause of allergic sensitization exceeding 40% of the sensitized individuals. Due to the scarce presence of olive trees in Northern Spain, limited to some cultivated fields in the South of the Galicia region where they also grow wild, only 8% of the sensitized individuals showed positive results for Olea pollen. The aim of the paper was to assess the behaviour pattern of the Olea pollen and its aeroallergens in the atmosphere, as this information could help us to improve the understanding and prevention of clinical symptoms. Airborne Olea pollen and Ole e 1 allergens were quantified in Cartagena (South-eastern Spain) and Ourense (North-western Spain). A volumetric pollen trap and a Burkard Cyclone sampler were used for pollen and allergen quantification. The Olea flowering took place in April or May in both biometeorological sampling areas. The higher concentrations were registered in the Southern area of Spain, for both pollen and Ole e 1, with values 8 times higher for pollen concentrations and 40 times higher for allergens. An alternate bearing pattern could be observed, characterized by years with high pollen values and low allergen concentrations and vice versa. Moreover, during some flowering seasons the allergen concentrations did not correspond to the atmospheric pollen values. Variations in weather conditions or Long Distance Transport (LDT) processes could explain the discordance. The back trajectory analysis shows that the most important contributions of pollen and allergens in the atmosphere are coincident with air masses passing through potential source areas. The exposure to olive pollen may not be synonym of antigen exposure.

In aerobiological studies, the Parietaria pollen type usually includes all Parietaria and Urtica species found in the area. Given that Urtica is a nonallergenic plant, the pollen counts report incomplete information on the presence of allergens in the atmosphere. Discordance between the pollen concentrations of Urticaceae and allergic symptoms has been observed in patients with pollinosis.To compare the Urticaceae pollen counts with the Par j 1 and Par j 2 aeroallergen concentrations from 2 different Spanish geographic areas to determine the allergenic load in the atmosphere.Hirst-type volumetric traps and Burkard Cyclone samplers were used for pollen counts and aeroallergen capture, respectively. The quantification of Par j 1 and Par j 2 allergens was performed using specific 2-site antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Transmission electron microscopy and immunocytochemical techniques were applied to localize these allergens in the orbicules.Differences between areas and years were obtained in both pollen and aeroallergen concentrations. Despite the lower pollen counts recorded in Cartagena, higher aeroallergen concentrations were registered compared with Ourense. A lower correlation was achieved between Urticaceae pollen concentrations and aeroallergen levels, with a maximum positive significant correlation (adjusted R2 = 0.466, P.001). Intense labeling of Par j 1 and Par j 2 proteins was observed in the orbicules, the tapetal membrane, and the tapetal tissue remnants.This method may be valuable for epidemiologic research to establish correlations between concentrations of Parietaria aeroallergens and clinical symptoms. Therefore, the measurement of aeroallergens should be incorporated into the aerobiological studies with clinical applications.

Despite their significant role in source apportionment analysis, studies dedicated to the identification of tracer elements of emission sources of atmospheric particulate matter based on air quality data are relatively scarce. The studies describing tracer elements of specific sources currently available in the literature mostly focus on emissions from traffic or large-scale combustion processes (e.g. power plants), but not on specific industrial processes. Furthermore, marker elements are not usually determined at receptor sites, but during emission. In our study, trace element concentrations in PM10 and PM2.5 were determined at 33 monitoring stations in Spain throughout the period 1995–2006. Industrial emissions from different forms of metallurgy (steel, stainless steel, copper, zinc), ceramic and petrochemical industries were evaluated. Results obtained at sites with no significant industrial development allowed us to define usual concentration ranges for a number of trace elements in rural and urban background environments. At industrial and traffic hotspots, average trace metal concentrations were highest, exceeding rural background levels by even one order of magnitude in the cases of Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, As, Sn, W, V, Ni, Cs and Pb. Steel production emissions were linked to high levels of Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn, Mo, Cd, Se and Sn (and probably Pb). Copper metallurgy areas showed high levels of As, Bi, Ga and Cu. Zinc metallurgy was characterised by high levels of Zn and Cd. Glazed ceramic production areas were linked to high levels of Zn, As, Se, Zr, Cs, Tl, Li, Co and Pb. High levels of Ni and V (in association) were tracers of petrochemical plants and/or fuel-oil combustion. At one site under the influence of heavy vessel traffic these elements could be considered tracers (although not exclusively) of shipping emissions. Levels of Zn–Ba and Cu–Sb were relatively high in urban areas when compared with industrialised regions due to tyre and brake abrasion, respectively.

Resumen La preocupacion publica y cientifica acerca del riesgo potencial de los contaminantes y los toxicos ambientales para la salud reproductiva masculina se esta incrementando, sobre todo debido al aumento de publicaciones que recogen una tendencia decreciente de la calidad seminal, asi como un aumento de las tasas de anomalias en el desarrollo del tracto urogenital y cancer testicular. Los toxicos y contaminantes principales que afectan a la calidad seminal son varios, y de ellos podemos destacar los metales pesados. Actualmente los estudios son limitados y no permiten proporcionar conclusiones definitivas sobre si estos toxicos afectan a la calidad seminal humana. Los cientificos estan incrementado su capacidad de cuantificar los contaminantes y toxicos ambientales en muestras humanas, con el fin de identificar el papel del ambiente que nos rodea en la fertilidad humana.

This paper presents our reply to two questions posed by Dr. Millard concerning our paper Martinez-Garcia et al. [Martinez-Garcia MJ, Moreno JM, Moreno-Clavel JM, Vergara N, Garcia-Sanchez A, Guillamon A, Porti M, Moreno-Grau S. Heavy metals in human bones in different historical epochs. Sci Total Environ 2005;348:51–72], namely, whether diagenetic changes operating in human bones after burial and consideration of the physiological plausibility of the metal concentrations measured in such bones could invalidate the results presented in the aforementioned paper. In our reply, we show that diagenetic effects are not meaningful in our study and that the mathematical approach used by Millard to derive circulating blood concentration from bone levels is based on the incorrect manipulation of a statistical regression analysis and therefore is not valid. After exhaustively reviewing the two phenomena involved in Dr. Millard's questions as well as other concerns raised in his letter to the editor, we deem the three conclusions presented in Martinez-Garcia et al. [Martinez-Garcia MJ, Moreno JM, Moreno-Clavel J, Vergara N, Garcia-Sanchez A, Guillamon A, Porti M, Moreno-Grau S. Heavy metals in human bones in different historical epochs. Sci Total Environ 2005;348:51–72] to be entirely appropriate.

The concentration of the metals lead, copper, zinc, cadmium and iron was determined in bone remains belonging to 30 individuals buried in the Region of Cartagena dating from different historical periods and in eight persons who had died in recent times. The metals content with respect to lead, cadmium and copper was determined either by anodic stripping voltammetry or by atomic absorption spectroscopy on the basis of the concentrations present in the bone remains. In all cases, zinc and iron were quantified by means of atomic absorption spectroscopy. The lead concentrations found in the bone remains in our city are greater than those reported in the literature for other locations. This led to the consideration of the sources of these metals in our area, both the contribution from atmospheric aerosols as well as that from the soil in the area. Correlation analysis leads us to consider the presence of the studied metals in the analysed bone samples to be the consequence of analogous inputs, namely the inhalation of atmospheric aerosols and diverse contributions in the diet. The lowest values found in the studied bone remains correspond to the Neolithic period, with similar contents to present-day samples with respect to lead, copper, cadmium and iron. As regards the evolution over time of the concentrations of the metals under study, a clear increase in these is observed between the Neolithic period and the grouping made up of the Bronze Age, Roman domination and the Byzantine period. The trend lines used to classify the samples into 7 periods show that the maximum values of lead correspond to the Roman and Byzantine periods. For copper, this peak is found in the Byzantine Period and for iron, in the Islamic Period. Zinc shows an increasing tendency over the periods under study and cadmium is the only metal whose trend lines shows a decreasing slope.

Total suspended particulate matter (TSP) and lead (Pb) concentrations were monitored at three sampling stations in Cartagena, Spain, from February 1990 to December 1998, and copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and cadmium (Cd) atmospheric concentrations were measured from January 1991 to December 1998. TSP and Pb values were analysed from samples collected on glassfibre filters, and the concentrations of Pb, Cu, Zn, and Cd were calculated from cellulose ester filters, showing no statistically significant difference (95% C.L.) for Pb analysed in both filter types. The geographical and temporal distribution patterns were investigated. There was a trend to find the highest TSP levels during winter and autumn, and the highest Pb concentrations during the winter season. The Pb/Cd average ratios for each sampling point showed a direct anthropogenic contribution for the industrial areas, when compared with Pb/Cd ratio reported for global natural emissions. The correlation among heavy metals displayed similar results, differing from the residential area to the urban and industrial ones.

Zygophyllum fabago is a widespread herbaceous plant in the Medi terranean area that belongs to the Zygophyllaceae family (order of the Sapindaceae). The genus Zygophyllurn, with about 90 species, grows mainly between northern Africa and central As ia? The pollen is both insect and wind borne and the plant has a flowering period that lasts from May to August. The pollen grains are isopolar, suboblated, tricolporated, and reticulated. The octoaperture is large, the apocolpium is small, and the endoaper ture is longitudinally elongated. 2 An aerobiologic study in Cartagena, Murcia, Spain, found that Zygophyllum pollen grains accounted for 6.06% of the total pollen during the period of pollination. The presence of the pollen in the atmosphere may be related to the exertive disposition of the stamen and the abundant biomass of this plant. The only previous mention of the Zygophyllaceae family as a possible inducer of allergic diseases was by Small and Smell in 1946. 3 We therefore conducted a prospective study to determine the allergenicity and aerobiologic characteristics of this pollen.