Study of trends in concentrations of basic air pollutants in the Malopolska Province

The purpose of the paper was to analyse the trends observed at air monitoring stations in the Malopolska Province - one of the most polluted regions in Poland. The study was carried out on the basis of long-term measurement data registered at five selected stations of automatic monitoring of air quality in the Malopolska Province. Trends evaluation was made on the basis of mean annual concentrations, taken from the database of the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Poland. Separately for each basic air pollutant, such as SO2, NO2, NOx, CO, PM10 and O3, trend lines and their linear equations were determined to illustrate the direction of changes in concentrations. The obtained equations of the trend lines indicate the threat to the environment in the Malopolska Province. Based on the results obtained it can be concluded that for recent years there has been observed the concentration decrease of main air pollutants, except of tropospheric ozone.