Trace Elements Speciation of Submicron Particulate Matter (PM1) Collected in the Surroundings of Power Plants

Elwira Zajusz-Zubek, Konrad Kaczmarek and Anna Mainka
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Elwira Zajusz-Zubek: Department of Air Protection, Silesian University of Technology, 22B Konarskiego St., Gliwice 44-100, Poland
Konrad Kaczmarek: Institute of Mathematics, Silesian University of Technology, 23 Kaszubska St., Gliwice 44-100, Poland
Anna Mainka: Department of Air Protection, Silesian University of Technology, 22B Konarskiego St., Gliwice 44-100, Poland

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: This study reports the concentrations of PM1 trace elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb and Se) content in highly mobile (F1), mobile (F2), less mobile (F3) and not mobile (F4) fractions in samples that were collected in the surroundings of power plants in southern Poland. It also reports source identification by enrichment factors (EF) and a principal component analysis (PCA). There is limited availability of scientific data concerning the chemical composition of dust, including fractionation analyses of trace elements, in the surroundings of power plants. The present study offers important results in order to fill this data gap. The data collected in this study can be utilized to validate air quality models in this rapidly developing area. They are also crucial for comparisons with datasets from similar areas all over the world. Moreover, the identification of the bioavailability of selected carcinogenic and toxic elements in the future might be used as output data for potential biological and population research on risk assessment. This is important in the context of air pollution being hazardous to human health.

Keywords: PM1; trace elements; power plants; chemical fractionation; enrichment factor (EF); principal component analysis (PCA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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