Chemical Characterization and Source Determination of Trace Elements in PM2.5 and PM10 from an Urban Area, Northern Jordan

Abstract

PM2.5 and PM10 atmospheric particulate material samples were collected from Irbid city, Northern Jordan using a dichotomous air sampler. Collected samples were digested and analyzed for 17 elements (Al, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, V and Zn) using ICP-OES. Levels of measured elements were compared to concentrations in many other locations worldwide. Concentrations of most elements are in the lower limits of the reported values for urban and sub-urban sites. Elements of natural sources; Al, Ca, Fe, and P have higher concentrations compared to other cities worldwide. Results indicated that, elements of crustal origin are associated with the coarse particles, while elements of anthropogenic origins are more associated with fine particles. Crustal enrichment factor calculations showed that concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cd, Sb, and Ag are highly enriched and As, Cu, Co, Ca, and Ni are moderately enriched. Factor analysis calculations permitted the identification of three sources affecting the levels of elements in the fine fraction, namely re-suspended road dust, automobile emissions, and industrial emissions.

Elemental Contamination in Indoor Floor Dust and Its Correlation with PAHs, Fungi, and Gram+/− Bacteria

“…All dwellings’ floor dust samples showed varying concentrations of Pb, and Cr. Dwellings samples also indicated the presence of P and S elements in appreciable concentrations where the average ratio of P:S was 4:1 indicating crustal sources enriched with anthropogenic sources such as high temperature process (e.g., metal smelting, oil combustion and vehicular emissions) [51]. The comparison of elemental concentrations inside dwellings (entrance vs. living room) are demonstrated in Figure 1 (see also Table S10).…”

“…The major source of sulfurin the ambient environment is the combustion of sulfur-containing fossil fuels such as coal and crude petroleum. In addition, P and S are extremely enriched with values exceeding the 100 indicating the involvement of anthropogenic activity (e.g., combustion and vehicular emissions and fine particulate matter [51]) related to the area or locations in Group 1 and Group 2. As for Group 3, it showed bacteria (gram positive and negative), Penicillinum/Aspergillus , and fungi group strongly with Fe, Ca, Ti, Zn, Mn, Cu, and to a lower extent PAH4 (pyrene), PAH3 (fluoranthene), and PAH1 (phenanthrene) based on their K-means clustering values.…”

“…The presence of extremely enriched Cu and high concentrations of Fe is a strong indication for anthropogenic activities. The low K-means clustering valuesof P and S in Group 3 compared to Groups 1 and 2 could be due to different sources and role of biological contamination [43,51].…”

Determination of Heavy Metal Concentrations in Household Dusts in Irbid and Mafraq Cities, Jordan

“…Although a large number of environmental studies have been performed to investigate heavy metal pollution in house dust, street dust, roadside surface soils, air, food, and agriculture soils in Jordan [24][25][29][30][31][35][36]43,[46][47][48], there is a lack of information, on the best knowledge of the author, regarding the concentrations of heavy metals in house dust in Irbid and Mafraq cities, Jordan. Therefore, this is the first study reporting heavy metal concentrations of house dust collected during the summer and winter seasons from Irbid and Mafraq cities in Jordan.…”