Temporal variation of PM10 and metal concentrations in Tampico, Mexico

Abstract

Concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Ti, V, and Zn in particulate matter (PM) 10 ambient air samples were determined for the urban zone of Tampico, Mexico every 6 days during 2004. A Wedding and Associates PM 10 highvolume sampler was used to collect the particles on quartz and glass fiber filters. A Thermo Jarrel Ash inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) was used to identify and quantify metals in PM 10 according to the USEPA-IO 3.1 method. A scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS) was used to analyze the elemental composition, size, and morphology of atmospheric particles. Principal component factor analysis (PCFA) was used to study the sources of PM 10 and metals. PM 10 and Pb concentrations in Tampico did not exceed the Mexican standard value of 120 and 1.5 μg m −3 in 24 h, respectively. PM 10 concentrations ranged from 12 to 47 μg m −3 . The results for Cd, Cr, and Cu are associated to the presence of an industrial source near the sampling site. V and Zn and likely Pb and Ni are related to a refinery. Fe and Ti are associated to natural sources, whereas Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn are associated to the storage and transportation of minerals near the sampling zone. Mn is associated to a ferromanganese manufacturing industry and to the refinery. The SEM-EDS micrographs show porous spherical particles rich in V and Ni and smooth spherical particles rich in C and O.

Exploring the Sources of PM10 Burning-Season Haze in Northern Thailand Using Nuclear Analytical Techniques

“…Highly toxic elements, such as As, Pb, Cd, Hg, Zn, Ni, Cu, Cr, and others, such as Fe, Ca, Ba, and Mn, which are derived from the earth's crust or re-suspended soil (Gonzalez-Rodriguez et al, 2005), have been analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), and mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) (Ochsenkuhn-Petropoulou and Ochsenkuhn, 2001;Gonzalez-Rodriguez et al, 2005;Karar et al, 2006;Kulshrestha et al, 2009;Flores-Rangel et al, 2015); atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) (Kulshrestha et al, 2009); particle-induced x-ray emission (PIXE) (Ferreira da Silva et al, 2010); synchrotron radiation micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (μ-SXRF) (López et al, 2011;Pongpiachan et al, 2012aPongpiachan et al, , 2012b; scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) (Flores-Rangel et al, 2015); anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) (Ochsenkuhn-Petropoulou and Ochsenkuhn, 2001); and instrumental neutron-activation analysis (INAA) (Ochsenkuhn-Petropoulou and Ochsenkuhn, 2001). Some ions, such as sulfate (SO 4 2-), nitrate (NO 3 -), ammonium (NH 4 + ), sodium (Na + ), calcium (Ca 2+ ), potassium (K + ), magnesium (Mg 2+ ), bicarbonate (HCO 3 -), and chloride (Cl -), have been analyzed by AAS and ion chromatography (Sillapapiromsuk et al, 2013;Zhamsueva et al, 2015).…”