EDXRF analysis of suspended particulate matter (SPM) from residential and industrial areas in Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Due to the remarkable increasing of the mass concentrations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) as an air pollution indicator in Greater Cairo‐Egypt, regular sampling during autumn 2014 and winter 2014/2015 seasons has been performed from industrial and residential areas. It was found that the average mass concentrations of the SPM collected from residential and industrial areas are equal to 531 ± 198 and 912 ± 230 μg/m3, respectively. These quantities are much higher than the maximum allowance level, especially for the industrial area. By utilizing three secondary targets, energy dispersive x‐ray fluorescence working under vacuum environment was used for elemental analysis of 19 elements namely; Na, Al, Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Se, Br, Rb, and Sr. The present optimized selective excitation energy dispersive x‐ray fluorescence analysis has considerably enhanced the analytical range with respect to our previous similar studies, including low Z elements such as Na, Al, S, and Cl and attaining lower detection limits in the range of ng/m3. Remarkable high elemental concentrations were determined for most of the detected elements from the industrial area samples, strongly indicating the influence of the industrial and anthropogenic activities. The average percentages of the mass concentration of the detected inorganic elements account only for 3.2% and 10.5% of the total mass concentration collected from the residential and industrial areas, respectively, thus directly indicating that the content of organic pollutants in SPM is the dominant contribution.

Lead speciation of PM2.5 collected from Greater Cairo, Egypt and Zarqa, Jordan: An energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence and X‐ray absorption near edge structure study

“…The validity of the Pb results was confirmed using a standard reference material for air particulate (standard reference material #2783, National Institute of Standard and Technology, United States). More details were illustrated in our previous work . At all locations of the present work, the mass concentrations of PM 2.5 during winter are higher than those mass concentrations in autumn season, and this is in a good agreement with other related studies .…”

“…In the residential area of Greater Cairo and the urban of Zarqa (Jordan), Pb in winter is about 5 times higher than that found in autumn. This could refer to the specific weather condition and the atmospheric stability during winter that causes a remarkable increase in the mass concentration . For this reason, selected PM 2.5 samples (two sample/location) with the highest Pb concentration have been studied using the XANES measurements.…”

“…Oil refinements, as well as other industrial activities, are existing at Zarqa, Jordan location. During winter 2015, sampling collections in Egypt and Jordan were collected simultaneously because there was a remarkable increase of the mass concentration of PM 2.5 as well as the Pb concentration, and these results are in agreements with literature . At each location, PM 2.5 samples were collected weekly for 24 hr.…”

“…Based on two different spectrochemical analysis methods, the lead was quantified in the collected samples, and they found that lead concentration in the air increased with increasing the population and more lead was presented in the air during the cold season. The same output of high mass concentrations of Pb as well as other elements during winter was also found recently in the Middle East region . The high mass concentration of Pb in winter could be referred to low atmospheric dispersion and consequently increasing the accumulation of Pb particles.…”

Atmospheric aerosols analysis and identification of polluting sources in the industrial city of Arak, Iran

“…Historically, atmospheric aerosols measurement has concentrated on total suspended particulates (TSP), which encompass ultrafine, fine, and coarse particulate matter. Studies have been accomplished in parts the Middle East region suffering from dust storms, with its defined geographical areas to explore the amount of TSP [3] and fine particulate matters [4–6] . Islamabad, Kirkuk, Cairo, Tehran, and Arak have the same weather condition relied on weather reports collected during 1985–2015.…”