Monitoring trace metals in urban aerosols from Buenos Aires city. Determination by plasma-based techniques.
J Environ Monit
; 6(4): 286-94, 2004 Apr.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-15054536
ABSTRACT
A study was undertaken, within the framework of a 3 years national project, to assess the content of 13 elements in airborne particulate matter collected in representative zones of the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. The sampling strategy followed consisted in collecting simultaneously 67 samples of PM10 particulate matter in 9 sampling sites covering an area of about 30 km2 during one week. The collection was performed on ash-free fibre-glass filters using high volume samplers. A combination of aqua regia and perchloric acid was used for leaching metals from filters. Key elements, namely Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, S, Sb, Sn, Zn and Zr, were determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) at micro g g(-1) and ng g(-1) levels. Analyte concentration varied from 130 ng g(-1)(Mo) to over 30%(Ca). Multivariate statistical analysis was performed on the data set including the measured elemental compositions for the monitored period. The atmospheric concentration found for Pb confirms the decreasing levels of this element since the introduction of unleaded gasoline in 1995 88 ng m(-3)(2001) < 220 ng m(-3)(1997) < 3900 ng m(-3)(1994). The average S concentration above 3 microg m(-3) is somehow unexpectedly high for Buenos Aires since the relatively low S content of liquid fuels and the massive usage of natural gas imply low emissions of this element from combustion activities. To the best of our knowledge, S concentrations are reported for the first time for this city.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Oligoelementos
/
Metais Pesados
/
Aerossóis
/
Poluentes Atmosféricos
País como assunto:
America do sul
/
Argentina
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2004
Tipo de documento:
Article