Search

Abstract Long-term particulate matter (PM) mass concentration measurements have been performed in Cyprus at three major cities, one industrial area and two remote stations covering the entire southern part of the island in an effort to assess; i) the spatial and temporal variability of sub-10 μm (PM 10), fine (PM 2.5) and submicron (PM 1) particulate matter in the eastern Mediterranean, ii) the main source areas contributing to their levels and iii) the relative contribution of regional and local anthropogenic and natural sources to PM levels. It was found that dust is responsible for the 33.6 ± 5.2% or about 10 μg m−3 of the annual PM 10 levels reported in background stations; the latter underlines the significant contribution of natural sources on the ambient PM 10 amounts in the eastern Mediterranean region. A significant (p < 0.001) decreasing trend of 0.7 ± 0.1 μg m−3 y−1 was observed when both PM 10 and PM 2.5 annual values are considered, indicating contribution from both natural and anthropogenic sources to this tendency. By considering the PM x (with x = 1, 2.5 and 10) mass concentrations obtained at the background station of Agia Marina as representative of the regional influence, the local influence of the urban and industrial sites on the measured PM x levels can be estimated. On average, 36–44% of the observed PM 10 levels at the urban and industrial locations is estimated to originate from local anthropogenic and/or natural emissions including vehicle, biomass-burning, shipping emissions (in Limassol), airport related emissions (in Larnaca), resuspension of dust and sea-salt (in coastal locations). These local emissions are almost equally distributed in the fine and coarse fractions as 40–50% of the local PM 10 amounts are due to fine particles emissions. The above results highlight significant emissions from both fine mode (e.g. residential heating and traffic) and coarse mode urban emissions (e.g. dust resuspension, wear and tear in brakes and tires, respectively) in urban and industrial locations in Cyprus. Graphical abstract Long-term particulate matter (PM) mass concentration measurements have been performed in Cyprus at three major cities, one industrial area and two remote stations covering the entire southern part of the island. At the remote Cyprus Atmospheric Observatory (bottom inner panel), significant decreasing trends of 0.7 μg m-3 y-1 have been observed for the sub-10 μm (PM 10 : 1998-2015, top panel) and fine (PM 2.5 : 2006-2015, bottom panel) particulate matter fractions indicating contribution from both natural and anthropogenic sources to this tendency. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]