Spatial and temporal patterns of airborne metal pollution: the value of low technology sampling to an environmental epidemiology study.

To investigate an epidemic of respiratory cancer in Armadale, central Scotland, its air pollution was studied. During a period of 18 months, low technology samplers were exposed at 47 sites in the town to monitor the local variations in contamination by atmospheric metals. The samplers were two types of lichen and two types of moss, one of each type being a transplant and the other an in situ sampler. Following each exposure, the comparability of the samplers' uptake and retention of the metals was assessed. The sources of the metals and the effects of environmental variables on the pollution patterns were investigated through statistical analyses of spatial and temporal trends in the data. The spatial patterns of the metals indicated the steel foundry in the town as the major source of most of the pollutants. The temporal patterns, although less statistically significant, suggested the pollution might have been affected by some meteorological factors and by the foundry's output, but not by the output of the other main industry in the town, i.e. a brickworks. The types of sampler showed a general similarity of pollution pattern, but with some differences which indicated that some types of sampler were more suitable than others for particular forms of survey. Low technology sampling can provide information about short-distance and short-term changes in the patterns of airborne pollution by metals, thereby assisting the interpretation of epidemiological patterns of respiratory disease.

Techniques of low technology sampling of air pollution by metals: a comparison of concentrations and map patterns.

During a 17 month survey of air pollution in the town of Armadale, central Scotland, the concentrations of some metals (iron, manganese, zinc, lead, copper, chrome, nickel, cadmium, and cobalt) were measured in seven types of low technology sampler--four indigenous and three transplanted--at 47 sites. The geographical patterns of the concentrations in the samplers were compared on two types of map. For most metals, sites with high concentrations were present close to the foundry and also in the north of the town. The differences between the patterns of pollution shown by the various types of sampler probably reflected differing mechanisms for collection and different affinities for various sizes and types of metal particle.

Industrial air pollution by metals monitored by a synthetic fabric: A case study of a community.

To supplement an epidemiological investigation into respiratory cancer, a synthetic fabric called tak was used to study the deposition of atmospheric metal pollution within the town of Armadale, central Scotland. Pollution maps showed high concentrations of several metals in areas close to the town's steel foundry and in a second area in the north of the town. Through further statistical analyses, those metals were identified which had probably been emitted by the foundry, and temporal variations in metal deposition patterns were examined. The advantages of this method of low technology sampling, which include the low cost and a high density of sampling sites, are described.

Atmospheric metal pollution monitored by spherical moss bags: a case study of Armadale.

To supplement epidemiological investigations into the mortality from respiratory cancer in the small industrial town of Armadale, central Scotland, spherical moss bags were used to study the deposition of atmospheric metal pollution there during a period of 17 months. High concentrations of most metals were found in areas close to the local steel foundry. High concentrations of some metals were also found in the north/northeast of the town. Temporal variations in the metal deposition patterns during the survey-period were observed. By means of statistical analyses, those metals were indicated which were probably emitted from the steel foundry. The scientific and financial advantages of using this method of low technology sampling in epidemiological studies are discussed.

Is the Armadale epidemic over? Air pollution and mortality from lung cancer and other diseases, 1961-82.

In Armadale, a town in central Scotland, the standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) for lung cancer were exceptionally high during 1968-74. A large cluster of cases was found in a residential zone downwind from a foundry. In the present study death certificates in the mortality registers of three town parishes were analysed for 1961-82 and the time trends of mortality from major categories of disease were examined. The distribution of mortality from lung cancer within Armadale's six residential zones was compared with that of the other diseases for the periods 1968-75 and 1976-82; the zone of particular interest was that containing the original cluster of lung cancer. The distribution of lung cancer was also compared with the pattern of air pollution by metals, collected by Sphagnum moss bags. The annual numbers of deaths from respiratory cancer in Armadale rose to a plateau in 1968-77; after a fall during 1978-80, the numbers returned in 1981 and 1982 to their previous high values. Between 1968-75 and 1976-82 the mean SMRs for all the disease categories except respiratory cancer rose. The SMR for total mortality in 1976-82 was the same as in preceding years when the standardised death rate for Armadale was the highest for Scotland in the annual reports of the Registrar General. In the zone with the highest mortality from lung cancer in 1968-75 the SMR for that disease continued to be higher than expected. That zone also showed the highest SMRs for cancer of the upper alimentary tract, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, and coronary heart disease; its SMR for bronchitis was the second highest in the town. Pollution studies indicated that zones with high SMRs for respiratory and non-respiratory cancer were exposed to air pollution by metals. The temporal and spatial patterns are consistent with the view that the problem of mortality from cancer and non-malignant diseases in Armadale remains.

Metal deposition patterns in central Scotland, as determined by Lichen transplants.

Lichen transplants of Hypogymnia physodes were used in a high-density network of sites for collecting airborne metals from the atmosphere in Armadale, a small industrial town in central Scotland. The mapping of the concentrations of various metals revealed a gradient of metal values which decreased outwards from the town's steel foundry. The findings were discussed in the context of a previous epidemiological investigation of lung disease in the town.

A wind-tunnel study of the flow of air pollution in Armadale, central Scotland.

A wind-tunnel experiment was performed to clarify the effect of local topography on the distribution of air pollution from a steel foundry in Armadale, central Scotland, under various conditions of air flow. The findings indicated that two areas, one directly to the southwest of the foundry and the other in the north of the town, were liable to receive pollution more frequently than had been expected. These observations were used to interpret the results of earlier investigations which had demonstrated relatively high concentrations of metal pollutants in areas of the town which also had surprisingly high mortality from lung cancer during previous years.