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Exposure to Nanoparticles in Work Environment
Köbölová, Klaudia ; Mikuška, Pavel (referee) ; Adamec, Vladimír (advisor)
Outside to the wide range of potential benefits, the use of nanomaterials can endanger human health and the environment. This diploma thesis presents the results of pilot measurements, where the exposure of nanoparticles was monitored. Based on a literature research a suitable method for measurement was the three-stage OECD model. Based on this model, measurements were performed in three welding workplaces, where nanoparticles are produced incidentally. The measurement consisted of collecting information and measuring the concentration of nanoparticles in the workplace, where data collection was focused only on inhalation exposure. During welding, 0.3 m size particles are produced and their concentration is strongly influenced by the welding material, type of welding and suction. The particles are amorphous in terms of morphology and contain manganese, iron and silicon, which can cause neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, the results indicate the importance of monitoring oral exposure.
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Spatio-temporal distribution of atmospheric aerosol in urban and rural environment
Bendl, Jan ; Hovorka, Jan (advisor) ; Mikuška, Pavel (referee) ; Vojtíšek, Michal (referee)
Air quality in Europe remains a significant environmental concern, affecting the health and quality of life of its population. While stationary network ambient air quality monitoring allows for the observation of main trends, it is not fully representative of personal exposure of citizens due to high spatio-temporal variability of atmospheric aerosol. Therefore, highly time-and- space resolved measurements with state-of-the-art instruments and methods are needed to observe the aerosol variability, dynamics, identify hot-spots, and pollution sources, which are necessary for successful targeted mitigation measures. This thesis addresses this gap focusing on the characterization of spatio-temporal distribution of atmospheric aerosol in inhabited environments. Novel mobile measurement systems were developed and employed to investigate diverse environments, including rural, urban and suburban area. Aerosol source-apportionment were conducted, and the toxicological effects associated with these environments were also investigated. A novel mobile measurement system was developed for personal exposure measurements and pollution mapping in urban and rural environments. The system was used to measure air quality in the Munich subway, revealing high aerosol dynamics with significantly higher concentrations of...
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Simultaneous online determination of nitric acid and nitrates in ambient air
Alexa, Lukáš ; Čmelíková, D. ; Cigánková, Hana ; Mikuška, Pavel
The innovated method for the simultaneous online determination of HNO3/NO3- in ambient air was developed. Due to high sensitivity of CLD (LOD = 5.1 nM in water solution, 3 s/n) no preconcentration method is required. The online methods were compared with the results obtained with the offline method based on sampling using filters and dry denuders (DD) covered by 0.5% NaF with subsequent analysis by ion chromatography (model ICS-2100, Dionex, USA) and capillary electrophoresis (model Agilent 7100, Agilent Technologies, USA).
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Forest springs, a safe source of drinking water?
Mikuška, Pavel ; Alexa, Lukáš ; Kouřilová, S. ; Cigánková, Hana ; Křůmal, Kamil ; Itterheimová, Petra ; Kubáň, Petr ; Matoušek, Tomáš ; Barešová, Magdalena ; Pivokonský, Martin
Water from 25 forest springs was characterized for basic physical parameters and chemical and bacteriological composition. Chemical composition was mostly within limits for drinking water, but bacteriological results indicate faecal pollution of water in majority studied springs.
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Elements' bioaccessibility and oxidative potential of urban aerosol
Cigánková, Hana ; Mikuška, Pavel ; Hegrová, J.
Atmospheric aerosols (Particulate Matter, PM) have significant impact on health and environment. The ability of aerosol to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) is one of the widely proposed mechanisms related to the negative effects of aerosol on human health. Oxidative stress, caused by the production of ROS, is associated with several cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.\nThe capacity of aerosol to produce ROS is also called oxidative potential (OP). Although ROS generation capacity of PM exhibits a good correlation with PM mass concentration, it may depend more on physico-chemical properties of PM. Elements bound to PM play a significant role in contributing to the OP of aerosol. Exposure to elements was linked with several health issues (e.g. respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, asthma, inflammatory effects, lung cancer).
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Organic compounds and markers from wood combustion in boilers used for household heating
Křůmal, Kamil ; Mikuška, Pavel ; Horák, J. ; Jaroch, M. ; Hopan, F. ; Kuboňová, L.
Organic compounds (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and organic markers (monosaccharide anhydrides, diterpenoids) used for the identification of aerosol emission sources were measured in the emissions from the combustion of hard and soft wood. Wood was combusted in different boilers used for the residential heating in the Czech Republic, i.e., overfire boiler, boiler with down-draft combustion, gasification boiler and automatic boiler. Emission factors of particles and all measured organic compounds were the highest from the combustion of fuels in the oldest (overfire) boiler.
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Parallel Determination of Particulate Ammonium by Using a Continuous Aerosol Sampler and Cascade Impactor
Alexa, Lukáš ; Hlaváčková, H. ; Cigánková, Hana ; Mikuška, Pavel
Ammonia is a significant gaseous pollutant present in the atmosphere. As a neutralizing agent of acidic species ammonia forms particle-phase ammonium (NH4+) salts and contributes thus to formation of secondary atmospheric aerosols (Harrison and Jones, 1995). Aerosols (particulate matter, PM) are responsible for many negative effects on environments and health risks to human. The diameter of PM has significant impact on their environmental exposure, where the decreasing particle size increases the adverse health effects. The ultrafine particles hence play a major role in adverse impact on human health (Ryer-Powder, 1991). Presented paper describes the use of the novel continuous aerosol sampler for online, and a commercial cascade impactor for offline, determination of NH4+ in ambient air.
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Oxidative Potential of PM1 and PM2.5 Urban Aerosol and Associated Elements in Three Simulated Lung Fluids
Cigánková, Hana ; Mikuška, Pavel ; Hegrová, J.
Mass concentration of particulate matter (PM) has been used in several epidemiologic studies as an indicatior conenecting PM concentrations with human health effects (Ostro, 1993). However, mass concentration of PM doesn´t consider the different compositions and toxicological effects of its components. Majority of PM mass constitutes low-toxicity components, while minority of trace components may have high toxicological activity (Tonne, 2012). Oxidative potential (OP), defined as the ability of PM to induce oxidative stress, is in recent years recognized as one of the main biological mechanisms considered to be contributing to negative impacts from air pollution exposure. Oxidative stress is caused through the capability of PM to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) within the lung, which leads to pro-inflammatory responses that can ultimately results in cell apoptosis (Borlaza, 2021).
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Total and Bioaccessible Fraction of Elements in Urban Aerosol
Mikuška, Pavel ; Cigánková, Hana ; Hegrová, J.
Atmospheric aerosols have significant impact on health and environment. Elements constitute an important particulate component which have received the attention to understand their environmental and health impacts. Elements enter the human body through inhalation of aerosols causing several health issue (asthma, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, lung cancer).\nThe potential health effects of elements in PM depend on their toxicity, concentration, and bioaccessibility. It is assumed that the bioaccessible fraction of elements is more relevant for evaluating human health risks than the total concentration of elements. The aim of this study was to determine the total and bioaccessible concentration of elements in urban PM1 and PM2.5 aerosol during four seasons.
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