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A total of 10 years of hourly aerosol and gas data at four rural German stations have been combined with hourly back trajectories to the stations and inventories of the European Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR), yielding pollution maps over Germany of PM10, particle number concentrations, and equivalent black carbon (eBC). The maps reflect aerosol emissions modified with atmospheric processes during transport between sources and receptor sites. Compared to emission maps, strong western European emission centers do not dominate the downwind concentrations because their emissions are reduced by atmospheric processes on the way to the receptor area. PM10, eBC, and to some extent also particle number concentrations are rather controlled by emissions from southeastern Europe from which pollution transport often occurs under drier conditions. Newly formed particles are found in air masses from a broad sector reaching from southern Germany to western Europe, which we explain with gaseous particle precursors coming with little wet scavenging from this region. Annual emissions for 2009 of PM10, BC, SO2, and NOx were accumulated along each trajectory and compared with the corresponding measured time series. The agreement of each pair of time series was optimized by varying monthly factors and annual factors on the 2009 emissions. This approach yielded broader summer emission minima than published values that were partly displaced from the midsummer positions. The validity of connecting the ambient concentration and emission of particulate pollution was tested by calculating temporal changes in eBC for subsets of back trajectories passing over two separate prominent emission regions, region A to the northwest and B to the southeast of the measuring stations. Consistent with reported emission data the calculated emission decreases over region A are significantly stronger than over region B.

Additional file 1: Table S1. General information on the plasticizers investigated. Table S2. Overview of the sampling programs used for this work. Figure S1. Study locations for the German Environmental Survey (GerES) and SPM sampling points for the German Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB). Table S3. Sites of the ESB for SPM sampling. Table S4. Information on GC/MS system and parameters. Table S5. Recoveries for DEHT at different concentration levels. Table S6a. Specific product regulations. Table S6b. REACH regulation. Figure S2. Relevant regulations for the plasticizers investigated since 1999. Table S7a. Characteristic values of the plasticizer investigated in house dust samples. Table S7b. Characteristic values of the plasticizer investigated in SPM samples. Table S8. Summary of test data and significance of the differences.

Indoor air concentrations of formaldehyde, furfural, benzaldehyde, and 11 aliphatic aldehydes (C2-C11) were measured in residences of 639 participants in the German Environmental Survey for Children and Adolescents 2014-2017 (GerES V). Sampling was conducted using passive samplers over periods of approximately seven days for each participant. The most abundant compounds were formaldehyde and hexanal with median concentrations of 24.9 µg m-³ and 10.9 µg m-³, respectively. Formaldehyde concentrations exceeded the Guide Value I recommended by the German Committee on Indoor Guide Values (Ausschuss für Innenraumrichtwerte - AIR) (0.10 mg m-³) for 0.3% of the participating residences. The sum of aliphatic n-aldehydes between C4 (butanal) and C11 (undecanal) exceeded their Guide Value (0.10 mg m-³) for 2.0% of the residences. The geometric mean concentrations of most aldehydes were lower than in the earlier GerES IV (2003-2006) study. Formaldehyde and hexanal concentrations, however, were comparable in both studies and showed no significant difference. Indoor aldehyde concentrations did not exhibit significant correlations with factors collected in questionnaires, such as the age of the participants, their socio-economic status, the location of the residence (former East/West Germany), migration background, tobacco exposure, and the type of furniture used. The validity of the passive sampler measurements was verified against active sampling techniques in a test chamber experiment.

Ten years of hourly aerosol and gas data at four rural German stations have been combined with hourly back trajectories to the stations and inventories of the European EDGAR emission database yielding immission maps over Germany of PM10, particle number concentrations, and equivalent black carbon (eBC). The maps reflect aerosol emissions modified with atmospheric processes during transport between sources and receptor sites. Compared to emission maps strong Western European emission centers do not necessarily dominate the downwind concentrations because their emissions are reduced by atmospheric processes on the way to the receptor area. PM10, eBC, and to some extent also particle number concentrations are rather controlled by emissions from Southeastern Europe from which pollution transport often occurs under dryer conditions. Newly formed particles are found in air masses from a broad sector reaching from Southern Germany to Western Europe which we explain with gaseous particle precursors coming with little wet scavenging from this region. Annual emissions for 2009 of PM10, BC, SO2, and NOx were accumulated along each trajectory and compared with the corresponding measured time series. The agreement of each pair of time series was optimized by varying monthly factors and annual factors on the 2009 emissions. This approach yielded broader summer emission minima than published values that were partly displaced from the midsummer positions. For BC, SO2, and NOx stronger emission-reductions were determined than what GEA and EEA reported. These findings are emphasized with 2017 as endpoint of the trend from which on our study shows emission increases. Comparing calculated trends with emission trends in neighboring countries as published by EEA supports the explanation that the observed trends are to some extent due to changes in imported air masses. Most strongly this holds for SO2, the trend of which follows that of Romanian emissions rather well.

Hausstaub, der vor allem auf dem Boden sedimentierte Staub in Gebäuden, ist ein bedeutender Marker für bestimmte Innenraumverunreinigungen. In ihm reichern sich unter anderem schwerflüchtige organische Verbindungen wie Biozide, polyzyklische aromatische Kohlenwasserstoffe (PAK) und Weichmacher an. Daneben finden sich im Hausstaub Milben, Pollen und andere mikrobielle Verunreinigungen. Die Komplexität des Hausstaubs hinsichtlich seiner Zusammensetzung ist aber auch ein Grund, warum es keine einheitliche Messtechnik gibt und die Beurteilung des Ergebnisses so schwierig ist. Das beginnt mit der Frage der Siebung und Abtrennung grobkörniger Bestandteile, mit der Bestimmung des Alters des Staubs vor der Analyse und endet mit der Bewertung der Inhaltstoffe nach der Analyse. Der vorliegende Beitrag liefert eine aktuelle Bestandsaufnahme zur generellen Aussagekraft von Hausstaubuntersuchungen. Die Autorinnen und Autoren zeigen auf, dass die quantitative Bestimmung chemischer Substanzen im Hausstaub durchaus sinnvoll sein kann, um bestimmte Substanzen im Innenraum nachzuweisen und deren Konzentration nach statistischen Kriterien zu beurteilen. Ebenso deutlich wird aber auch dargelegt, dass hinsichtlich der Exposition im Innenraum eine gesundheitliche Bewertung anhand von Hausstaub und dessen Inhaltsstoffen nicht möglich ist.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2017.3.

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentrations alongside with submicrometer particle number size distributions and particle chemical composition have been measured at atmospheric observatories of the Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure (ACTRIS) as well as other international sites over multiple years. Here, harmonized data records from 11 observatories are summarized, spanning 98,677 instrument hours for CCN data, 157,880 for particle number size distributions, and 70,817 for chemical composition data. The observatories represent nine different environments, e.g., Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean maritime, boreal forest, or high alpine atmospheric conditions. This is a unique collection of aerosol particle properties most relevant for studying aerosol-cloud interactions which constitute the largest uncertainty in anthropogenic radiative forcing of the climate. The dataset is appropriate for comprehensive aerosol characterization (e.g., closure studies of CCN), model-measurement intercomparison and satellite retrieval method evaluation, among others. Data have been acquired and processed following international recommendations for quality assurance and have undergone multiple stages of quality assessment.

Mit Einführung der Umweltzone 2011 erfolgte eine beschleunigte Modernisierung der Fahrzeugflotte in Leipzig gegenüber anderen Regionen in Sachsen. Die Belastung durch Verbrennungspartikel aus der modernisierten Fahrzeugflotte reduzierte sich sehr deutlich. Die Reduzierung war im ersten Jahr der Umweltzone am stärksten. Nach sechs Jahren wurde eine Minderung für die Anzahl der Partikel von 30 bis 200 nm um 74 % und für Ruß-Partikel BC um 59 % nachgewiesen. Dies dokumentiert den Erfolg der Partikelfilter in modernen Dieselfahrzeugen beim realen Fahren in der Stadt. Der hochtoxische Feinstaubanteil in der Außenluft und damit das Gesundheitsrisiko der Bevölkerung wurden sehr deutlich gesenkt. Die Umweltzone war damit eine sinnvolle und wirkungsvolle Maßnahme der Stadtverwaltung. Gleichzeitig trat keine Verbesserung für die Stickstoffoxide durch die modernste Fahrzeugflotte Sachsens ein. Die Dieselfahrzeuge gelten als die Hauptverursacher. Der Misserfolg in der Minderung der Stickoxide moderner Diesel-PKW beim realen Fahren in der Stadt trotz verschärfter EURO-Abgasnormen wurde dokumentiert. Über die tatsächlichen Emissionen moderner Diesel-PKW wurden Bürger und Stadtverwaltung von Autoherstellern getäuscht.