2017 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages 40-50
In order to investigate the actual situation of open burning and its influence on the PM2.5, several measurements and data analyses were carried out. The number of complaints and patrols of open burning recorded by local governments in the Saitama prefecture tended to increase in the autumn. The monthly frequency of day observed over a 35 μg/m3 daily average PM2.5 (the short-term environmental standard) in Kazo was higher in the autumn and winter. The chemical components of four cases when the PM2.5 was especially high were compared. The organic carbon and nitrate were higher among the major components in all cases, and the influences of the biomass burning and waste incineration were suggested. On the other hand, it was also suggested that a high PM2.5 concentration was relevant to meteorological conditions such as a low wind speed, high relative humidity, and stable atmospheric situation. In addition, it was frequently seen that the number of hits of open burning searched in social networking services increased on the weekend, on a rainy day, and on the day before the rain, and the PM2.5 increased around these days in some cases. These facts are possibly relevant to the situation of farmwork and open burning of riverbeds and mountains. The score defined by the conditions that the PM2.5 could become higher was applied to the cases over the short-term environmental standard in Kazo and roughly correlated with the daily average PM2.5.
