Investigations of aerosols from Swi&ez.rh;toch&lz.xl;owice, Pszczyna and Kielce by XPS method

Particles of an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 ?m (PM-2.5) and less than 10 ?m (PM-10) were collected at the same time using Harvard impactors in Swi&ez.rh;toch&lz.xl;owice, Kielce and Pszczyna. The concentrations of: C, O, N, Fe, F, Si, S, Na, Zn, I, Cu, Cl, Al, Ca, Mg, Pb and Mn were determined by use the XPS method. The atomic concentrations of these elements in the fine and coarse aerosol particles collected in studied sites were significantly different. For example, in Swi&ez.rh;toch&lz.xl;owice and Pszczyna ratios of PM-2.5/PM-10 silicon were less than 0.4 while in Kielce this ratio was equal to 0.9. On the other hand, the PM-2.5/PM-10 sulphur ratio was the highest in Swi&ez.rh;toch&lz.xl;owice (1.13) while in Pszczyna and Kielce was 0.85 and 0.98 respectively, indicating the special great role of coal burning in the process of the aerosol nucleation and growth in central parts of Upper Silesia. The obtained results show that the analyzed aerosols are of different origin.