Size-Differentiated Chemical Composition of Re-Suspended Soil Dust from the Desert Southwest United States

Abstract

As part of the Desert Southwest Coarse Particulate Matter Study which characterized the composition of fine and coarse particulate matter in Pinal County, AZ during 2010-2011, several source samples were collected from several different soil types to assist in source apportionment analysis of the study results. Soil types included native desert soils, agricultural soils (crop farming), dirt-road material adjacent to agricultural areas, paved road dusts, dirt road material from within and adjacent to a cattle feedlot, and material from an active cattle feedlot. Following laboratory resuspension of the soil, sizesegregated PM 2.5 and PM 10 fractions for each source type were collected on filters and characterized for mass, ions, OC, EC, and trace elements. While there are unique chemical compositions of soils in the region (e.g., high As and Sb) that reiterate the importance of using local source profiles (e.g., native soils) as compared to Upper Continental Crust or soil profiles from other regions in receptor modeling studies. The study also provides new insights into the impact of land-use modification on source emission profiles. Specifically, high OC and PO 4 3-are found in material representative of local cattle feedlot activities while elevated Cu, Sb and Zn are found from sources impacted by motor vehicle traffic. Results of the study indicate that the local native soil composition is only slightly modified by agricultural activities and this study provides the chemical composition of both native and agricultural soil for source apportionment studies in the Desert Southwest.

Characterization of summertime coarse particulate matter in the Desert Southwest—Arizona, USA

“…Relative to Al, average ratios of K, Ca, and Fe were 0.48, 0.88, and 0.56, respectively. These ratios are similar to those found in resuspended PM 10 soil collected in the study region (Upadhyay et al, 2012) as well as resuspended PM 10 soil collected in the U.S.-Mexico border region (Watson and Chow, 2001;Chow et al, 2004) and near Owens (Dry) Lake, California (Rojo et al, 2008), and slightly higher than those found in upper continental crust (Rudnick and Geo, 2003). These results suggest that crustal material is likely regional in nature.…”

“…The remaining sampler was used to collect blanks, other colocated samples, and samples for quality assurance/quality control and instrument precision determination. More detailed information about blank and quality assurance and control measures can be found in the study overview (Clements et al, 2012).…”

Characteristics of PM10 Chemical Source Profiles for Geological Dust from the South-West Region of China

“…EC abundances were lowest in NS (0.004% ± 0.009%) while Inorganic ions fraction were most abundant in URD (1.49% ± 1.06%). These results agreed well with studies in other regions of the world [15][16][17]19], and indicated that human activity-related factors, such as vehicle exhaust, can greatly modify the chemical characteristics of entrained crustal material from sources affected by these activities.…”

Deposition and Impact of Urban Atmospheric Dust on Two Medicinal Plants during Different Seasons in NCR Delhi

“…The major sources of dust pollution include suspension of soil, agriculture related activities, road dust, vehicular exhaust, power plants, construction activities, brick kilns and cement factories etc. (Karanasiou et al, 2014;Upadhyay et al, 2015). In addition, transboundary and long range transport also contributes a significant amount of atmospheric dust in the south Asian region (Begum et al, 2011).…”