Comparison of Trace Element Concentrations in Ambient Air of Industrial and Residential Areas in Tehran City

Abstract

Tehran is densely populated possessing unhealthy and polluted air. There are 22 municipality districts in Tehran, and considerable numbers of industries are located within each district. Due to adverse environmental and health effects of trace elements in urban air, this study has been carried out to measure and compare concentration of trace elements including Ag, As, Br, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Mn, Hf, La, Sb, Sc, Sm, Th, and Zn in industrial (district 21) and residential (district 22) areas. For this purpose, total suspended particles were collected in two different time intervals in the year 2008. As a result, maximum and minimum concentrations in residential area associated with Mn (2.9 μg/m(3)) and Hf (2.92 × 10(-4) μg/m(3)), respectively. Also, in industrial sites, these concentrations are higher for Mn (4.79 × 10(-1) μg/m(3)) and Hf (6.65 × 10(-4) μg/m(3)). The concentrations of Mn (2.07 μg/m(3)) and Hf (7.46 × 10(-4) μg/m(3)) in traffic zone are close to residential values. General, concentrations of Ce, Co, Cs, La, Sc, Sm, Th, Br, and Hf in industrial area were higher than in residential area. The source of these elements in Tehran's air is mainly anthropogenic. According to the achieved results, the concentration levels of As, Cr, and Zn were close together in both residential and industrial zones. Therefore, these elements could have been originated from natural sources. Also, results show that levels of Ag, Mn, Sb, and Cu in residential area were higher than in industrial area. Finally, obtained data indicated that the trends of average concentration of trace elements in industrial area (from low to high) follow as Hf<Cs<Sm<Th<La<Ce<Sc<Co<Ag<As<Sb<Cr<Br<Zn<Cu<Mn and, in residential area, are in order of Hf<Cs<La<Th<Ce<Sc<Sm<Co<As<Ag<Br<Sb<Cr<Zn<Cu<Mn.

Hair Metal Levels and Childhood Weight Gain

“…Environmental pollution could be the main source of exposure in Tehran, as the city has considerable numbers of different industries and large cars traffics. Although concentrations of many elements are lower in residential zones than in industrial areas, some elements are present in the same (arsenic and zinc) or even higher levels (manganese, antimony, and copper) in these zones of Tehran ( 15 ). In addition, some heavy metal contents were reported to be higher along the city roads (i.e., cadmium, 4 mg/kg; lead, 669 mg/kg; zinc, 614 mg/kg) ( 16 ) than the acceptable levels in natural soils (cadmium, 3 mg/kg; lead, 100 mg/kg; zinc, 300 mg/kg) ( 44 ).…”

“…Although socioeconomic status and subsequent diets insufficiency may play an important role in child’s growth insufficiency, other factors (i.e., genes, gender, and environmental pollutions) may involve as well. On the other word, “Iranian infants are exposed to relatively higher levels of metals from industrial activities, via polluted air and soils” ( 15 , 16 ).…”

Elemental analysis of aerosols in Tehran’s atmosphere using PIXE and identification of pollution sources

“…Sekhavatjou et al (2011) measured and compared concentration of trace elements in industrial and residential areas by neutron activation analysis. Also, Leili et al (2008) have done an important study on the concentrations of TPM, PM10, and heavy metals in one station in the center of Tehran by atomic absorption spectrometry.…”

Monitoring Environmental Levels of Trace Elements near a Hazardous Waste Incinerator

“…Metals are naturally present in the earth's crust and distributed in soil, water, and air [4,5], with occurrence in biotic and abiotic medias, being considerably affected by anthropogenic activities [6]. In modern HWIs, metals contained in the HW are mainly collected in bottom and fly ash, with only limited amounts being released from the stack as particulate matter or vapour [7].…”