These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Mass concentrations and elemental analysis of PM2.5 and PM10 in a coastal Mediterranean site: A holistic approach to identify contributing sources and varying factors.
    Author: Chatoutsidou SE, Lazaridis M.
    Journal: Sci Total Environ; 2022 Sep 10; 838(Pt 1):155980. PubMed ID: 35588836.
    Abstract:
    PM10 and PM2.5 were measured at a suburban coastal Mediterranean site. Daily mass concentrations were generally lower than the WHO air quality limits but showed significant diurnal and seasonal variations, with intensive African dust events and residential heating emissions during wintertime causing the higher % increase of ambient concentrations (32% and 59% respectively). However, analysis of the elemental content revealed intrinsic characteristics. Statistically significant seasonal variability was found for S with higher concentrations during warm seasons directly associated with the formation of secondary sulfates. Increased S was the driving reason for the significant depletion of both Cl and Br. On the other hand, elevated K during wintertime was attributed to biomass burning. Analysis of the mineral content of airborne particles showed that typical soil-derived particles were significantly increased during dust events (Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe) although the corresponding mass concentrations preserved relative low levels (<30 μg m-3). It was also found that dust events contributed to P, S, V, Zn, Sr and Pb with elemental ratios including Si (Si/Al, Si/Fe, Si/Ca) and Ca/Al serving as good markers for African dust. Heavy metals were found to have both direct and indirect influence on PM2.5 and PM10. PM2.5 were primarily enriched with metals produced from motor vehicles (Cu, Zn, Pb) and ships (V, Ni), whilst, PM10 enriched indirectly with Cr, Zn, Br and Pb due to road dust. At the end, source appointment has shown that the dominant contributing factor was mineral dust for both metrics (>30%) but significant contributions arose from secondary sulfates and traffic, (aged) sea salt, biomass burning (only for PM2.5) and road dust (only for PM10). Overall, this work provides a novel insight on the characteristics and chemical profile of atmospheric particles in a suburban environment largely affected by local, regional and long-range sources.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]