The effects of anthropogenic particulate emissions on roadway dust and Nerium oleander leaves in Messina (Sicily, Italy)

Abstract

Complementary studies on the inorganic chemical composition of Nerium oleander leaves collected in the town of Messina (Sicily, Italy) and seven grain-size fractions of local roadway dust have been carried out. Data and maps are presented to show that the particulate matter present in the air of Messina contains trace elements significantly in excess with respect to the average continental earth crust. The anomalies follow the outline of the urban area, the highest concentrations of trace elements being observed where traffic density is highest. Chemical and isotopic analyses of both road dust and Nerium oleander leaves indicate that Pb contamination still characterizes roads with heavy traffic. In addition to Pb, other metals such as Pt, Pd, Sb, Au, Br, Zn, Cu, Mo, and Cd are significantly enriched in roadway dust, indicating their common anthropogenic origin, especially from traffic. SEM/EDS study of some roadway dust particles has shown the presence of gypsum probably of secondary origin, mixed particles formed by coagulation or gas-to-particle conversion, and porous spherical particles apparently emanating from combustion processes.

Metals distribution in the organic and inorganic fractions of soil: a case study on soils from Sicily

“…The aim of this paper, which is part of a greater project studying the presence of heavy metals in the environment (Dongarrà et al, 2003a(Dongarrà et al, , 2003bVarrica et al, 2003) and their chemical speciation in the presence of naturally occurring ligands (De Stefano et al, 2002, 2004Gianguzza et al, 2004), is to establish the possible forms or phases in which heavy metals are associated in several soils of Sicily and to discuss the relationships between soil composition and metal sequestration capacity. Here we report results on the distribution of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn, in the organic and inorganic fractions of eight soil samples by using a modified sequential extraction (Tessier et al, 1979) which allowed us to recognize metals in five different fractions categorised as follows: (a) exchangeable metals, (b) metals bound to carbonates, (c) metals bound to iron and manganese oxides, (d) metals bound to organic matter, and (e) metals in residual fraction.…”

Determination of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in Airborne Particulate Matter (APM) Collected in Tokyo, Japan, and a Positive Anomaly of Europium and Terbium

“…From this point of view, the anthropogenic emission of elements into the atmosphere has been investigated. Many elements in airborne particulate matter (APM), including toxic elements, such as As, Cd, Cr, Pb and Hg, have been reported so far; [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] in addition, platinum-group elements (PGEs), such as Pt, Pd and Rh, were also focused on concerning anthropogenic emission from automobiles. [10][11][12][13][14][15] However, reports of rare earth elements (REEs) in APM are few.…”

Rare earths, zirconium and hafnium distribution in coastal areas: The example of Sabella spallanzanii (Gmelin, 1791)

“…The findings of Fig. 7 show that the compositions of the investigated samples fall within an area characterised by the occurrence of both anthropogenic and lithogenic contributions, close to the REE content representative of road dust (Dongarra et al, 2003). This evidence suggests that anthropogenic REE contribution also occurs in the Cala harbour and is probably delivered by the leaching of dust particles from automotive traffic.…”

“…La and Sm concentrations are multiplied for two and ten, respectively due to their natural geochemical abundances. The composition of road dust is reported as reference from Dongarra et al (2003). The composition of crustal materials comes from Taylor and McLennan (1995), anthropogenic sources from Moreno et al (2008).…”