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LIFE MONZA project (Methodologies fOr Noise low emission Zones introduction And management) aims at defining an easy-replicable method for the identification and management of the Noise Low Emission Zones (Noise LEZ), urban areas subject to traffic restrictions, usually introduced in order to ensure compliance with the air pollutants limit values, prescribed by the European Directive on ambient air quality 2008/50/EC, whose impacts and potential benefits regarding noise issues have been taken into account, tested and analysed in a pilot area of the city of Monza, located in North Italy. Noise LEZ has been established in Libertà district, introducing infrastructural interventions carried out by the municipality (top-down actions) and encouraging an active involvement of the citizens, in the definition of a more sustainable lifestyle (bottom-up actions). The analysis of potential effects on noise reduction due to the Noise LEZ can contribute to the implementation of the EU Directive 2002/49/EC, related to the assessment and management of environmental noise (Environmental Noise Directive – END), which introduces noise action plans, designed to manage noise issues and their effects, suggesting the adoption of urban and mobility planning. Noise and air quality monitoring activities have been carried out in pilot area in ante and post-operam conditions. The monitoring methods, the measurement techniques, the analysis procedures, able to describe the effects due to Noise LEZ establishment, for both the main environmental issues are reported in this paper, as proposals to be applied in other different contexts. Results of monitoring activities highlight a reduction of noise, in term of sound pressure levels, between ante and post-operam, during the day and particularly during the night period, and it is essentially due to the interventions realised. The effect of the Noise LEZ on air pollution seems to be negligible for combustion related pollutant and carbon fractions of PM, due both to the moderate spatial effects of the measures undertaken and confounding factors due to concomitant emission sources and meteorology.

High-resolution measurements of ultrafine particle concentrations in ambient air are needed for the study of health human effects of long-term exposure. This work, carried out in the framework of the VIEPI project (Integrated Evaluation of Indoor Particulate Exposure), aims to extend current knowledge on small-scale spatio-temporal variability of Particle Number Concentration (PNC, considered a proxy of the ultrafine particles) at a local scale domain (1 km × 1 km). PNC measurements were made in the university district of San Lorenzo in Rome using portable condensation particle counters for 7 consecutive days at 21 sites in November 2017 and June 2018. Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) were performed in the area for winter, summer and the overall period. The log-transformed two-hour PNC averages constitute the response variable, and covariates were grouped by urban morphology, land use, traffic and meteorology. Winter PNC values were about twice the summer ones. PNC recorded in the university area were significantly lower than those observed in the external routes. GAMs showed a rather satisfactory result in order to capture the spatial variability, in accordance with those of other previous studies: variances were equal to 71.1, 79.7 and 84%, respectively, for winter, summer and the overall period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimetrò (MM) is a ropeway public mobility system that has been in operation in the city of Perugia for about ten years to integrate with urban mobility and lighten vehicular traffic in the historic city center. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the impact of MM as a source of pollutants in the urban context, and the exposure of people in the cabins and the platforms along the MM line. These topics have been investigated by means of intensive measurement and sampling campaigns performed in February and June 2015 on three specific sites of the MM line representative of different sources and levels of urban pollution. Stationary and dynamic measurements of particle size distribution, nanoparticle and black carbon aerosol number and mass concentrations measurements were performed by means of different bench and portable instruments. Aerosol sampling was carried out using low volume and high-volume aerosol samplers, and the samples nalysed by off-line methods. Results show that MM is a considerable source of atmospheric particulate matter having characteristics very similar to those of the common urban road dust in Perugia. In the lack of clear indications on road dust effect, the contribution of MM to the aerosol in Perugia cannot be neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study was to asses the temporal variation (1999 trough 2008) of air quality in Rome, focusing on airborne concentration of selected pollutants (PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentration and particle number concentration, PNC, carbon monoxide, CO, nitrogen oxides, NO and NO2) used for health effects assessment in epidemiological analyses. Time series analysis using Seasonal Kendall test has been applied. A statistically significant decreasing trend was found for primary gaseous pollutants and total particle number concentrations. Moreover a decreasing trend was assessed for PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 measured at traffic oriented sites even if the estimated reduction was lower compared with NO, CO and PNC. The urban background PM10 and NO2 concentrations seem to be practically unchanged since 1999 as no statistically significant trends were found. All the pollutants show higher slope of the estimated trend line at traffic oriented sites compared with those observed at the urban background. Thus a reduction of the intra-city concentration variability throughout the years occurred.