Neutron Activation Analysis of Atmospheric Aerosols from a Small Pacific Island Country: A Case of Suva, Fiji Islands

Abstract

A systematic study was developed to investigate the quality of air in Suva, the capital city of Fiji Islands. This is the first work of its kind in the South Pacific Islands and was aimed at characterizing the elemental abundances in total suspended particulate (TSP) matter in Suva's air.Aerosol samples were collected from 11 locations in Suva during the period 2000-2003 using a high-volume sampler. Concentrations of some heavy metals and other trace elements in these atmospheric aerosols were investigated by neutron activation analysis and gamma spectrometry.Concentrations of total suspended particulates for residential, traffic and industrial areas were found to be in the range 9-43, 20-58 and 33-91 μg/m 3 , respectively. The elements sodium, iron and zinc have been observed in relatively higher concentrations than other elements. Moreover, calculated enrichment factors for some elements (such as arsenic, bromine, cobalt, chromium and antimony) reveal possible anthropogenic inputs into air mainly through automobile exhaust emissions.

Characterization of aerosols generated in a steel processing factory

“…This was clearly expected due to the nature of the factory itself. In comparison, similar work conducted by the authors in the ambient environment of Suva could only characterise 3-5 % of the total aerosols elementally (Garimella & Deo, 2007).…”

“…This certainly reveals that a great deal of anthropogenic aerosols is generated inside the factory. Garimella & Deo (2007) have shown that the measured TSP levels in residential, traffic, and industrial areas of Suva are in the range 9-43, 20-50, and 33-91 µg m -3 respectively. The levels of TSP measured outside the factory and in the ambient environment conform to their levels stated for industrial areas.…”

“…For comparison, Table 1 also lists the elemental analysis of aerosols carried out in residential areas of Suva by (Garimella & Deo 2007), as well as elemental composition of used-oil as determined by various other authors (Cotton et al 1977;Becker & Comeford 1980;U.S. EPA 1984;Mumford et al 1986).…”

Statistical Analysis of Fine Particle Resuspension from Rough Surfaces by Turbulent Flows

“…Turbulence-induced resuspension of fine particles from surfaces is closely related to a variety of applications and phenomena, such as cleaning and preparation of semiconductor surfaces (Lim et al, 2005), dose supply control of dry powder inhaler (Farkas et al, 2015), transport of microorganisms in environments (Jamieson et al, 2005), and spread of radioactive dust related to the operation of a nuclear reactor (Garimella and Deo, 2007). Recently, particle resuspension has gained increasing attention because deposited particles could be an important source for indoor and outdoor airborne particulate matters (PM) and has the potential to prolong human exposure to harmful particles (Munir et al, 2013;You et al, 2013;You and Wan, 2014c;Dimitriou, 2015).…”