Ultrafine Metal Concentration in Atmospheric Aerosols in Urban Gwangju, Korea

Abstract

PM 10 , PM 5 , and ultrafine (< 0.132 μm) mass concentrations, and metals (As, Be, Ca, Cd, Fe, K, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, and Zn) the highest in spring due to the contribution of long-range transported and fugitive dust particles, whereas mass concentration of ultrafine particles had no seasonal variation and was not significantly affected by dust particles. Enrichment factor (EF) for each metal and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) among ultrafine metals were conducted to evaluate effects of anthropogenic and natural sources on ultrafine metals and to determine association among metals. We found that Fe, Ni, Zn, Sb, and K exhibited relatively higher fraction in ultrafine size and had higher EF values (i.e., anthropogenic). Results from wind-dependent metal concentrations suggested that Zn and Ni in ultrafine particles originated from metallurgical sources from a nearby industrial complex. We also found that during an Asian dust event, Ca concentration increased most significantly among ultrafine metals.

Measurement of Ambient Air Arsenic (As) Pollutant Concentration and Dry Deposition Fluxes in Central Taiwan

“…High concentrations and/or long exposure of metals may cause adverse effects on human health, even though As concentrations are a small fraction of PM (Berggren et al, 1990;Devries et al, 1996). Determination of metals composition of inhalable particles is important in determining their potential impact on human health (Allen et al, 2001;Park et al, 2008). It has been estimated that anthropogenic emission is three times higher than the calculated/measured mass dry deposition flux ratios value by Baklanov and Sorensen model was 4.65 while the average calculated/measured mass dry deposition flux ratios values by Zhang was 7.16.…”

Measuring and Modeling Atmospheric Arsenic Pollutants, Total As, As(III), and As(V), at Five Characteristic Sampling Sites

“…Results indicate that summer has a significantly higher concentration of the metals Zn, Pb, Cu, Cd than winter and monsoon (Saxena et al, 2008). Determination of metals composition of inhalable particles is important in determining their potential impact on human health (Park et al, 2008).…”

Seasonal Variation and Sources of Heavy Metals in Atmospheric Aerosols in a Residential Area of Ulsan, Korea

“…Heavy metals associated with respirable particles have also been shown to increase lung or cardiopulmonary injuries caused by particulate air pollutant exposure (Espinosa et al, 2001;Cancio et al, 2008;Leili et al, 2008). Natural emissions (crustal minerals, forest fires and oceans), traffic and industrial emissions (combustion of fossil fuel and industrial metallurgical processes) are the principal sources of heavy metals in the ambient air (Park et al, 2008;Xu et al, 2010;Cheung et al, 2011). Traffic emissions also represent potential sources of trace heavy metals, including combustion products from fuel and oil, road construction materials, road dust and wear products from tires, brake linings and bearings (ElFadel et al, 2001;Kothai et al, 2008).…”