Toxicologia Ambiental e Analítica

Particulate Matter: Capture and Quantification in Natural and Anthropogenic Sources

Abstract

Joel A Hernández-Escamilla, Juan P Flores-Margez and Manoj K Shukla

Air pollution has a category of pollutants called particulate matter (PM) emitted into the environment as one of the six principal pollutants. High concentrations of PM, of any category, can be found in natural and anthropogenic phenomenon known as dust storms. Such concentrations in this phenomenon can reach 6000 μg/m3, and at the same time large amounts of dust that accumulate in these events, reduce visibility at one kilometer, and also the path followed by this dust can reach distances exceeding thousands of kilometers. Recent epidemiological studies have shown a relationship between particulate matter and the environment in their health effects. For full extent implies the presence of PM in our daily lives, the objective of this review article is to present the information necessary to determine techniques that focus on monitoring air quality during dust storms and other events with similar characteristics, based on experiments conducted by researchers around the world in agriculture, industrial and unpaved zones.