caa a22 4500 477094325 CHVBK 20180405111523.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170330e19961201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/BF01771239 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/BF01771239 Limestone surfaces in built-up environment as indicators of atmospheric pollution [Elektronische Daten] [Alfred Vella, Alex Camilleri, Jean Tabone Adami] The concentration of sulphate on limestone surfaces of the external walls of churches in Malta is shown to be related to their position and distance from a power station, the main local point source of sulphur dioxide pollution. Limestone powder collected from these surfaces was examined for the presence of particles which, under low-power optical microscopy, appear as shiny black amorphous bodies which were interpreted as soot particles; the abundance of these bodies was expressed as a ‘black particle count' (BPC). The degree of sulphation and BPC were shown to be correlated with each other and both appeared to be strongly dependent on the prevailing wind. The BPC contour map indicated an important contribution to the parameter from vehicular traffic. It is suggested that the degree of sulphation and BPC of limestone surfaces from the built environment should function as environmental indicators of the relative air quality with respect to SO2 and soot pollution. This data is possibly more accurately representative of the relative long-term air-quality status of different areas of habitation than that deduced from single or episodic measurements of atmospheric pollutant levels. Chapman & Hall, 1996 Limestone nationallicence sulphation nationallicence sulphur dioxide nationallicence air pollution nationallicence soot nationallicence Vella Alfred Department of Chemistry, University of Malta, MSD 06, Msida, Malta aut Camilleri Alex Department of Chemistry, University of Malta, MSD 06, Msida, Malta aut Tabone Adami Jean Department of Chemistry, University of Malta, MSD 06, Msida, Malta aut Environmental Geochemistry and Health Kluwer Academic Publishers 18/4(1996-12-01), 165-170 0269-4042 18:4<165 1996 18 10653 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01771239 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01771239 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Vella Alfred Department of Chemistry, University of Malta, MSD 06, Msida, Malta aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Camilleri Alex Department of Chemistry, University of Malta, MSD 06, Msida, Malta aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Tabone Adami Jean Department of Chemistry, University of Malta, MSD 06, Msida, Malta aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Environmental Geochemistry and Health Kluwer Academic Publishers 18/4(1996-12-01), 165-170 0269-4042 18:4<165 1996 18 10653 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer