Characterization of the indoor particles and their sources in an Antarctic research station Érica Coelho Pagel & Neyval Costa Reis Jr. & Cristina Engel de Alvarez & Jane Méri Santos & Melina Moreira Conti & Ricardo Salvador Boldrini & Américo Sansigolo Kerr Received: 16 September 2015 /Accepted: 9 February 2016 /Published online: 16 February 2016 # Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 Abstract Many studies have been carried out on the environmental impact of the research stations on the Antarctic continent. However, the assessment of indoor air quality in these confined environments has been neglected. The main objectives of this study are to investigate the granulometric distribution of the indoor particles in the different compartments of the Brazilian Antarctic Station, to examine the number and mass concentration of the indoor particles, to conduct chem- ical and morphological analyses of the indoor PM 2.5 , and to identify the possible sources of the PM. The results showed that Na, K, Cl, Fe, Zn, S and Si were the main elements detected. High levels of black carbon were recorded in the workshop, which may be associat- ed with the use of diesel vehicles. To identify the human activities related to the indoor particle emission in the station, the size distribution of the particles in the living room was monitored for seven consecutive days, during normal station operation. It was possible to identify the influence of individual processes, such as incineration, cooking and the movement of people, upon the particle size number concentration. The indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratio for the total suspended particles (TSP), PM 10 , PM 2.5 and PM 1 measured was significantly larger than those reported for urban buildings. In general, the I/O ratio distribution for all the compartments shows peak values between 2.5 and 10 μm, which is often related to human activity, such as cleaning, personnel circulation or clothing surfaces. The maximum I/O ratio at this range varied from 12 to 60. In addition, the compart- ments affected by combustion processes tend to present a significant number of submicron particles. Keywords Particulate matter . Indoor particles . Indoor air quality . Antarctic station Introduction The Antarctic hosts the world’ s largest protected area. Its distance from potential sources of pollution raises scientific interest in quantifying the impact of anthropo- genic activities away from the competitive influences found in large urban centres. A number of governments maintain permanent research stations in Antarctica. The extreme climate in this continent has led to the develop- ment of architectural designs of enclosed structures that provide both shelter and logistical support to the Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188: 167 DOI 10.1007/s10661-016-5172-z É. C. Pagel (*) : N. Costa Reis Jr., : J. M. Santos Department of Environmental Engineering, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari 514, 29.060-910 Vitória, ES, Brazil e-mail: erica.pagel@gmail.com É. C. Pagel : C. E. de Alvarez Department of Architecture and Urbanism, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari 514, 29.060-910 Vitória, ES, Brazil M. M. Conti : R. S. Boldrini Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo, IFES, Av. Vitória 1729, 29.040-780 Vitória, ES, Brazil A. S. Kerr Institute of Physics, Universidade de São Paulo, P O Box 66318, 05314-970 São Paulo, SP, Brazil