Atmospheric chemical composition of bulk deposition at two geographically distinct locations in Sri Lanka

Comparison of Ionic Concentrations (Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, NH4+, Cl-, SO42-, NO3-) and Water Quality Parameters of Bulk Depositions Among Three Sites in Kandy Area, Sri Lanka

“…The variables chosen from the Spearman correlation coefficient were then subjected to principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA was used to determine the sources of various pollutants, whether anthropogenic or natural [7,32]. Minitab 16 statistical software was used to perform statistical analysis on the data.…”

“…All preparation and final washing were completed with freshly prepared deionized water, which was certified as ASTM Type I water. Certified standard materials were used for standardization and calibration purposes [7].…”

“…In the laboratory, the volume of each wet deposition sample that was taken from each of the three sites was measured separately, for the estimation of the average rainfall. Thereafter, each sample was divided into three parts: The first part was used to measure water quality parameters [pH, conductivity, salinity, and total dissolved solids (TDS)]; The second part was used to determine the hardness of rainwater using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) titration method; The third part of the sample was filtered through a 0.45 µm cellulose acetate filter paper into a polyethylene bottle, and stored at 4  C until further analysis of ions [7,32,37].…”

“…Bulk deposition can be referred to as the sum of both wet and dry depositions [5,6]. Rain is the most effective type of wet deposition, where liquid water falls from the sky to the surface of the earth [7]. It scavenges aerosol particles and organic gaseous pollutants from the atmosphere [8].…”

“…Geographically, Sri Lanka is very close to the Indian mainland, and thus the atmospheric air quality of India could have a significant impact on Sri Lankan air quality [7,22]. In contrast to the global trend of studying the chemical composition of rainwater, only a few studies have been published in Sri Lanka [5,7,[23][24][25][26]. Some of these studies discovered the presence of acid rain during certain precipitation events.…”