Mean Annual Population Exposure to Atmospheric Particulate Matter in Poland

The main aim of this study is to provide information about the number of people exposed to different levels of the total mean PM10 and PM2.5 concentration and to calculate population weighted concentration both as a total value (for PM10 and PM2.5) and for individual chemical species. The study area is Poland for the year 2007. The concentration of particulate matters was provided with the fine resolution atmospheric multi-pollutant exchange (FRAME) model with a 5 km × 5 km spatial resolution. The FRAME simulations included anthropogenic emissions, as well as sea salt aerosol and wind blown dust. We have found that the entire population is exposed to PM2.5 concentration above 5.0 μg m−3, which is suggested to have an adverse impact on human health. Primary particulate matter has the highest contribution in total PM10and PM2.5 population weighted concentration and is followed by secondary inorganic aerosols.