Suspended particulate matter concentrations along the East-West Corridor, Trinidad, West Indies

An air quality sampling program was designed and implemented to collect bas eline concentrations of respirable suspended particulates (PM10) over a six week period from a network of 18 stations along a populated urban corridor . Air was sampled using portable mini-volume samplers operating in the part iculate-sampling mode. Daily samples were gravimetrically determined and co mparisons made between the results obtained. Daily PM10 values at some loca tions met and approached the US 24-h ambient PM10 standard value of 150 mu g m(-3). Mean levels of PM10 ranged between 46-88 mu g m(-3), the higher me an levels reflected the closeness of these stations to heavy road traffic; a source of airborne particulate matter. While spatial distribution of PM10 was related to the distance from road traffic, temporal variation in PM10 appeared to be principally associated with presence of Sahara dust, deliver ed to the region by the North Atlantic Trade Winds. Correlations of PM10 da ta with road traffic counts and meteorological parameters were generally lo w. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.