Changes of the Turda Salt Mine Underground Microclimate Induced by its Rehabilitation and Touristic Exploitation

Saline microclimate is a very important element in the process of speleotherapy used mainly in amelioratingrespiratory illnesses. Having one of the best treatment potential among the European countries, many of the Romanian’salt mines can be successfully used in speleotherapy. Moreover, in order to improve the touristic and therapeuticexploitation, Turda Salt Mine was rehabilitated trough a PHARE program. Taking into consideration the possibility thatthe saline microclimate could be affected by the rehabilitation works and the new exploitation conditions, a series ofphysico-chemical parameters have been analyzed. The particulate matter of different aerodynamic diameters – PM1,PM2.5 and PM10, and some chemical compounds (CO2, CO, NO2, SO2, CH4) were monitored in three rehabilitatedchambers (Rudolf, Terezia, Ghizela) of Turda Salt Mine during ten months (December 2009 – September 2010).Furthermore, other chemical compounds such as heavy metals, PAH, VOC and formaldehyde have been sampled andanalyzed in the laboratory. The obtained results showed that the presence of certain amounts of chemical compounds inthe mine’s indoor air that could be the consequence of the rehabilitation technology as well as a consequence of thematerials that were used there. Furthermore, the high number of tourists led, on the one hand to the increase of the CO2concentration and, on the other hand to temperature, humidity, and particulate matter. These variations, on a long term,could have significant negative impact upon the saline microclimate.