Levels of heavy metals composition in atmospheric aerosol samples and the influence of african episodes

Abstract

Particulate matter pollution is a serious environmental issue mainly due to the presence of toxic substances and trace metals in the atmosphere from a variety of pollution emission sources. Information about aerosol composition and their sources especially during pollution events can be further used to establish strategies for the reduction of particulate matter concentration. The objective in the present study was to analyse variations in total suspended particle (TSP) mass concentration and heavy metal components for evaluating the atmospheric loadings of substances with different sources as well as to further examine the relationship between the occurrence of African dust intrusions and metallic species concentrations at our coastal station located in South Spain. Non-destructive Wavelength-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (WDXRF) analysis has been applied for the determination of multi-element contents of atmospheric particulate matter.