Distribution and seasonal variability of trace elements in atmospheric particulate in the Venice Lagoon

Abstract

a b s t r a c tSize distribution and selected element concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) were investigated in the Venice Lagoon, at three sites characterised by different anthropogenic influence. The PM 10 samples were collected in six size fractions (10-7.2, 7.2-3.0, 3.0-1.5, 1.5-0.95; 0.95-0.49 and <0.49 lm) with high volume cascade impactors, and the concentration of 17 elements (Al, As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr, V, Zn) was determined by inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectroscopy. More than 1 year of sampling activities allowed the examination of seasonal variability in size distribution of atmospheric particulates and element contents for each site.At all the stations, particles with an aerodynamic diameter <3 lm were predominant, thus accounting for more than 78% of the total aerosol mass concentration. The highest PM 10 concentrations for almost all elements were found at the site which is more influenced by industrial and urban emissions. Similarity in size distribution of elements at all sites allowed the identification of three main behavioural types: (a) elements found mainly within coarse particles (Ca, Mg, Na, Sr); (b) elements found mainly within fine particles (As, Cd, Ni, Pb, V) and (c) elements with several modes spread throughout the entire size range (Co, Cu, Fe, K, Zn, Mn).Factor Analysis was performed on aerosol data separately identified as fine and coarse types in order to examine the relationships between the inorganic elements and to identify their origin. Multivariate statistical analysis and assessment of similarity in the size distribution led to similar conclusions on the sources.

Characteristics of Atmospheric Particulate Matter and Metals in Industrial Sites in Korea

“…The dendrograms show that the particle size distribution is mainly bimodal, with one cluster corresponding to the finer fraction 1.1-4.7 µm and the other cluster to the coarse mode 4.7-10 µm, shown by dotted boxes. Similar bimodal distributions have been reported earlier (Karanasiou et al, 2007;Toscano et al, 2011). Our observations show a close relationship between the ultrafine particles (<1.1 µm) and the coarser fraction (>5.8 µm).…”

“…The coarser particles (aerodynamic diameter > 3 µm) are thought to be formed by high temperature combustion, crustal erosion and road dust resuspension. The finer fractions are believed to be principally emitted from anthropogenic sources including combustion, high-temperature industrial activities and automotive traffic (Dockery & Pope, 1994;Toscano, Moret, Gambaro, Barbante, & Capodaglio, 2011). Knowledge on the size of the particles and their relationship to metals is vital in understanding health hazards in the atmosphere and to develop efficient methods and technologies to tackle these problems.…”

Comparison of PM10 concentrations and metal content in three different sites of the Venice Lagoon: An analysis of possible aerosol sources

“…Si, Al, Fe and Ti are generally used as reference elements, being abundant in soils, even if other choices have been made in research works: for example, Sr or Ti (Dongarrà et al, 2007;Teixeira et al, 2009). In the cases analysed Fe appears to be a suitable choice for the reference element because its origin in the Venice area has been indicated as mainly crustal in other research works in PM 10 (Rampazzo et al, 2008a(Rampazzo et al, , 2008bMasiol et al, 2010), in PM 2.5 (Stortini et al, 2009), in PM 3 and in PM 10−3 (Toscano et al, 2011). The EF is the comparison of the ratios of atmospheric concentrations of elements to a reference element with the same ratios in geological material (Watson et al, 2002), and it could furnish information on elements likely to originate from anthropogenic sources (Lu et al, 2007).…”

Spatial distribution and potential sources of trace elements in PM10 monitored in urban and rural sites of Piedmont Region

“…In particular, V has, also in this case, the highest EF in SA. Vanadium is emitted from all sources using heavy fuel oils such as ship engines and power plants (Becagli et al, 2012;Moreno et al, 2010;Toscano et al, 2011): therefore, this result is probably due to the input of air from the sea, as SA is relatively close to an important harbour and to a great coal power station localised in Savona city (Liguria region). To evaluate this hypothesis we calculated back-trajectories Taking wind direction and atmospheric conditions data into account and running deposition simulations by NOAA Hysplit Dispersion Model (Draxler and Rolph, 2015) and found that, particularly during summer days, air masses arriving in SA originate mainly from sea.…”