The Effect of Meteorological Conditions on Air Pollution in Siedlce

The objective of the work was to determine the influence of selected meteorological elements on the concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 in the air as well as arsenic, cadmium. lead and benzoapirene contents in PM10. The work is based on the data collected by the automatic measurement station located on ul. Konarskicgo, Siedice. in 2013-2017. ANOVA demonstrated that the heavy metal content throughout the year was significantly influenced by the month of the year. The lowest concentration of arsenic was recorded from May to August, and cadmium from January to March as well as from October to December. Similarly to cadmium, the lead content was the highest in the winter months (from October to March). The analysis of correlation revealed that air pollution was predominantly affected by air temperature, wind speed and air humidity. The relationship between the air temperature and pollutant content was negative. As the temperature increased, arsenic, cadmium, lead, benzoapirene and the PM10 contents declined. It was found that an increase in wind speed contributed to a significant decline in the concentration of PM10 and PM2.5. Moreover, wind speed affected the heavy metal content. Relative air humidity influenced the metal concentration from November to May, whereas an increase in wind speed contributed to a significant decline in the concentration of only PM10 in the period from January to November.