REV.CHIM.(Bucharest)♦67♦No. 4 ♦2016 http://www.revistadechimie.ro 639 The Dry Deposition of the PM 10 and PM 2.5 to the Vegetation and its Health Effect in the Ciuc Basin ROBERT SZEP 1 *, REKA KERESZTES 1 , GYORGY DEAK 2 , FRANCISC TOBA 3 , MARIETA GHIMPUSAN 4 1 Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Faculty of Technical and Social Sciences, 1 Libertatii Sq., 530104, Miercurea Ciuc, Romania 2 INCDPM - National Institute for Research and Development in Environmental Protection, 294 Splaiul Independentei, 060031, Bucharest, Romania 3 Spiru Haret University of Bucharest, 13 Ion Ghica Str., 030045, Bucharest, Romania 4 University Politehnica of Bucharest, Department of Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, 1-7 Gheorghe Polizu Str., 011061, Bucharest, Romania The pollutants emitted into the atmosphere may be transformed after certain time; they can come out from the atmosphereas dry or wet deposition. The plant speciescharacteristic to the Ciuc basin is the pine, forming large forests that constitute the primary surface deposition. According to that, dry deposition calculations have been carried out,based on the pine forests. Regarding the deposition changes,PM 10 and PM 2.5 do not differ, but their effects on the health are very different. This results especially from their dimension and concentration. Their deleterious effect on the human health in the Ciuc basin was examinedthrough the relative risk factor. The results showed that people are more disposed to cardiovascular diseases, lungcancer, acuteandchronicrespiratory diseases, asthma andotherdiseases. In addition, regarding the microclimate formation (atmospheric stability) in the Ciuc basin, the atmospheric pollution does not concern only the city of Miercurea Ciuc. The calculated risk factors are applied to the entire population within the basin. Keywords: particulate matter, dry deposition, human health, relative risk, atmospheric stability * email: szeprobert@yahoo.com Particulate matteris the complex component of urban and non-urban environments, with a large variety of chemical and physical properties, in interaction with the dynamism and complexity of the nature [1-7]. It is classified in accordance to the pollutants diameter,which plays an important role in the nature, period and the severity of the diseases. According to the researches, the PM types with different characteristics cause different health effects [8]. In 1989 the EPA declared the standard PM diameter to 10μm, and in 1997 to 2.5 μm. In 2000 the WHO has established that the PM 10 contains the PM 2.5 and it results from the transport, industrial sector, heating (butane, wood, waste, coal), open waste yards, agricultural waste etc. [9]. PM 2.5 is a solid pollutant having a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, while the PM 10 has a diameter of less than 10 micrometers, particle mostly derived from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and biomass burning. According to the WHO regulations,related to the PM 2.5, the annual average limit value is 10 μg/m 3 and the 24-h average limit 25 μg/m 3 . However, in Kathmandu, Nepal, values higher than 500 μg/m 3 have been already measured. According to the WHO survey, in 2012 were registered 3.7 million premature deaths as result of the air pollution, representing half of the initial estimations (7 million) [9]. Around 3 billion people in the world are using coal or biomass to heat their houses. Besides these, large quantities of wood, waste and charcoalare burned. Mostly in Africa, the use of fossil fuels and traditional biomass shows an upward trend, and in the near future is expected the highest increase of energy consumption. According to UNEP, by 2030 it will contribute 50% to the emission of pollutants. The highly developed countries have reduced the air pollution in the recent years, partly due to the restrictions on emissions, including in case of the vehicles. Still, researches showed that 50% of the diseases caused by the air pollution can be attributed to the traffic. In case of the developing countries, such as China and India, a rapid growth of the transport can be registered, exceeding the emission limit values [9]. It is scientificallyproventhat there isa strong correlationbetween the mentioned airborne dustand- allergies, asthma, respiratory diseases, tumorformations and cardiovascular diseases [10-13]. The most exposed to risk are the children, due to the fact that their immune system is not developed enough. In the United States, 78% of the air carcinogenic compounds are constituted from these particles. The most dangerous are the small particles, because during inhalation,they are not blocked by the nose hairs. They may contain various heavy metals, asbestos, organic contaminants. Stuck to the pollen they can intensify the allergic effects [14]. According to the CAFE (Clear Air for Europe) survey, nearly 300 thousand people from the EU could die each year as a result of the less than 2.5 micrometers polluting particles. Our researchaimsto determinethe effects of PM pollutants on human health andvegetation within theCiuc Basin. Experimental part The location under survey is the Ciuc basin, a bowl- shaped basin with a length of 60 km and an average height of 600 m, being situated in the Eastern Carpathians. The highest mountains within the basin range between 1000 and 1800 meters [15]. There are two monitoring stations in the basin,with a distance between them of 3.6 km.