Long-term Monitoring of Metal Elements in Total Suspended Particle Aerosols Simultaneously Collected at Three Islands in Okinawa, Japan

Itoh, Akihide; Oshiro, Yoshiko; Azechi, S.; Somada, Y.; Handa, D.; Miyagi, Yuko; Nakano, Kazuhiko; Tanahara, Akira; Arakaki, Takemitsu

doi:10.5572/ajae.2018.12.4.326

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The elements showed in general strong variation during the investigated sampling period with a wide range of concentrations observed as revealed by their broad concentration ranges indicated by the edges of the whisker. In comparison to concentrations reported for different locations in Tunis, Tunisia (Kchih et al, 2015), the values in this study were similar for elements such as K, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, V, and Zn. They observed higher values for Ca (< 10 µg m −3 ), and Pb (< 2 µg m −3 ) and lower values for Fe (< 0.7 µg m −3 ), Al (< 0.6 µg m −3 ), and Ti (0.08 µg m −3 ).…”

Section: Bulk Aerosol Samplessupporting

confidence: 84%

“…This makes the application of alternative techniques such as total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (TXRF) attractive in the analysis of particulate matter with very little mass, (typically in the microgram range) in comparison to the other techniques (Bulska and Ruszczyńska, 2017). TXRF is a highly sensitive surface technique, which is a variation in the energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) (Kchih et al, 2015), designed such that the X-ray beam is incident at a glancing angle on a polished substrate to enable a total internal reflection of the incident beam at its surface. This setup improves on the spectral background, increases the excitation frequency of the elements, and enhances the element sensitivity compared to conventional XRF methods (Bertin, 1975;Klockenkämper and von Bohlen, 2014a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Application of TXRF in monitoring trace metals in particulate matter and cloud water

Fomba¹,

Deabji²,

Barcha³

et al. 2020

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

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Abstract. Trace metals in ambient particulate matter and cloud are considered key elements of atmospheric processes as they affect air quality, environmental ecosystems, and cloud formation. However, they are often available at trace concentrations in these media such that their analysis requires high-precision and sensitive techniques. In this study, different analytical methods were applied to quantify trace metals in particulate matter (PM) samples collected on quartz and polycarbonate filters as well as cloud water, using the Total reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) technique. These methods considered the measurement of filter samples directly without and with chemical pretreatment. Direct measurements involved the analysis of PM samples collected on polycarbonate filters and cloud water samples after they are brought onto TXRF carrier substrates. The chemical treatment method involved the assessment of different acid digestion procedures on PM sampled on quartz filters. The solutions applied were reverse aqua regia, nitric acid, and a combination of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The effect of cold-plasma treatment of samples on polycarbonate filters before TXRF measurements was also investigated. Digestion with the reverse aqua regia solution provided lower blanks and higher recovery in comparison to other tested procedures. The detection limits of the elements ranged from 0.3 to 44 ng cm−2. Ca, K, Zn, and Fe showed the highest detection limits of 44, 35, 6, and 1 ng cm−2, while As and Se had the lowest of 0.3 and 0.8 ng cm−2, respectively. The method showed higher recovery for most trace metals when applied to commercially available reference materials and field samples. TXRF measurements showed good agreement with results obtained from ion chromatography measurements for elements such as Ca and K. Cold-plasma treatment did not significantly lead to an increase in the detected concentration, and the results were element specific. Baking of the quartz filters prior to sampling showed a reduction of more than 20 % of the filter blanks for elements such as V, Sr, Mn, Zn, and Sb. The methods were applied successfully on ambient particulate matter and cloud water samples collected from the Atlas Mohammed V station in Morocco and the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory. The obtained concentrations were within the range reported using different techniques from similar remote and background regions elsewhere, especially for elements of anthropogenic origins such as V, Pb, and Zn with concentrations of up to 10, 19, and 28 ng m−3, respectively. Enrichment factor analysis indicated that crustal matter dominated the abundance of most of the elements, while anthropogenic activities also contributed to the abundance of elements such as Sb, Se, and Pb. The results confirm that TXRF is a useful complementary sensitive technique for trace metal analysis of particulate matter in the microgram range as well as in cloud water droplets.

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Section: Bulk Aerosol Samplessupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of TXRF in monitoring trace metals in particulate matter and cloud water

Fomba¹,

Deabji²,

Barcha³

et al. 2020

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

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“…The northwestern monsoon prevails at this site during the cold season from late fall to early spring, implying that the air pollutants emitted from the Asian continent are easily transported here. Many researchers have reported the regional air pollution events of O 3 [29], carbon monoxide [30], black carbon [31][32][33], polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) [34], PM 2.5 [35,36], metallic elements [36,37], and GEM [5,38] etc. at this site.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Observation of Atmospheric Speciated Mercury during 2007–2018 at Cape Hedo, Okinawa, Japan

et al. 2019

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The concentrations of atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM), and particle-bound mercury (particles with diameter smaller than 2.5 μm; PBM2.5) were continuously observed for a period of over 10 years at Cape Hedo, located on the north edge of Okinawa Island on the border of the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Regional or global scale mercury (Hg) pollution affects their concentrations because no local stationary emission sources of Hg exist near the observation site. Their concentrations were lower than those at urban and suburban cities, as well as remote sites in East Asia, but were slightly higher than the background concentrations in the Northern Hemisphere. The GEM concentrations exhibited no diurnal variations and only weak seasonal variations, whereby concentrations were lower in the summer (June–August). An annual decreasing trend for GEM concentrations was observed between 2008 and 2018 at a rate of −0.0382 ± 0.0065 ng m−3 year−1 (−2.1% ± 0.36% year−1) that was the same as those in Europe and North America. Seasonal trend analysis based on daily median data at Cape Hedo showed significantly decreasing trends for all months. However, weaker decreasing trends were observed during the cold season from January to May, when air masses are easily transported from the Asian continent by westerlies and northwestern monsoons. Some GEM, GOM, and PBM2.5 pollution events were observed more frequently during the cold season. Back trajectory analysis showed that almost all these events occurred due to the substances transported from the Asian continent. These facts suggested that the decreasing trend observed at Cape Hedo was influenced by the global decreasing GEM trend, but the rates during the cold season were restrained by regional Asian outflows. On the other hand, GOM concentrations were moderately controlled by photochemical production in summer. Moreover, both GOM and PBM2.5 concentrations largely varied during the cold season due to the influence of regional transport rather than the trend of atmospheric Hg on a global scale.

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“…The method detection limit for the quartz filters was higher than 285 that observed for the polycarbonate membranes. In comparison to detection limits and blank concentrations reported from other digestion procedures using combinations of HNO3/HF for ICP-MS measurements(Upadhyay et al, 2009), and XRF(Okuda et al, 2013;Steinhoff et al, 2000;Itoh et al, 2018) analysis, the results from this method show lower detection limits for elements such as Ca, Zn, Fe, Ti, but higher limits for Sr. For Al and Co, the blank concentrations using the methods of this study were below instrument detection limit. Comparatively to 290 digestion procedures without HF, the application of HF (especially for analysis with ICP-MS technique) leads to an increase of the blank for elements such as Ca, Ti, Fe, which are partly embedded into the filter matrix and readily dissolved by HF, yielding to higher blanks for such elements as reported elsewhere(Upadhyay et al, 2009).…”

mentioning

confidence: 66%

Application of TXRF in monitoring trace metals in particulate matter and cloud water

Fomba¹,

Deabji²,

Barcha³

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ambient particulate matter and cloud trace metals are considered key elements of atmospheric processes as they affect air quality, environmental ecosystems and play an important role in cloud formation. However, they are often available at trace concentrations in these media such that their analysis requires high precision and 15 sensitive techniques. In this study, different analytical methods were applied to quantify trace metals in particulate matter samples collected on quartz and polycarbonate filters as well as cloud water, using the Total reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) technique. These methods considered the direct measurement of filter samples with and without chemical pretreatment. Direct measurements involved analysis of as collected polycarbonate and cloud water samples after they are brought onto TXRF carrier substrates. For the chemical treatment, different acid 20 digestion procedures for PM on Quartz filters were assessed including reverse aqua regia, nitric acid and a combination of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide solution. The effect of cold-plasma treatment of samples on polycarbonate filters prior to TXRF measurements was also investigated.Digestion with the reverse aqua regia solution provided lower blanks and higher recovery in comparison to other tested procedures. The detection limits of the elements ranged from 0.3 to 44 ng/cm². Ca, K, Zn, and Fe showed 25 the highest detection limits of 44, 35, 6 and 1 ng/cm² while As and Se had the lowest of 0.3 and 0.8 ng/cm², respectively. The method showed higher recovery for most trace metals when applied to commercially available reference materials and field samples. TXRF measurements showed good agreement with results obtained from ion chromatography measurements for elements such as Ca and K. Cold plasma treatment did not significantly lead to an increase in the detected concentration and the results were element-specific. Backing of the quartz filters 30 prior to sampling showed a reduction of more than 20% of the filter blanks for elements such as V, Sr, Mn, Zn, Sb.The methods were applied successfully on ambient particulate matter and cloud water samples collected from the Atlas Mohammed V station in Morocco and the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory. The obtained concentrations were within the range reported using different techniques from similar remote and background 35 regions elsewhere, especially for elements of anthropogenic origins such as V, Pb, and Zn with concentrations of up to 10, 19 and 28 ng/m³, respectively. Enrichment factor analysis indicated that crustal matter dominated the abundance of most of the elements while anthropogenic activities also contributed to the abundance of elements such as Sb, Se, and Pb. The results confirm that TXRF is a useful complementary sensitive technique for trace metal analysis of particulate matter in the microgram range as well as in cloud water droplets.

show abstract

Long-term Monitoring of Metal Elements in Total Suspended Particle Aerosols Simultaneously Collected at Three Islands in Okinawa, Japan

Cited by 5 publications

References 25 publications

Application of TXRF in monitoring trace metals in particulate matter and cloud water

Application of TXRF in monitoring trace metals in particulate matter and cloud water

Long-Term Observation of Atmospheric Speciated Mercury during 2007–2018 at Cape Hedo, Okinawa, Japan

Application of TXRF in monitoring trace metals in particulate matter and cloud water

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