Innovative Characterization of Particulate Matter Deposited on Urban Vegetation Leaves through the Application of a Chemical Fractionation Procedure

Martina Ristorini, Chiara Baldacchini, Lorenzo Massimi, Gregorio Sgrigna and Carlo Calfapietra
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Martina Ristorini: Department of Bioscience and Territory, Università degli Studi del Molise, 86090 Pesche (IS), Italy
Chiara Baldacchini: Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET), National Research Council (CNR), 05010 Porano (TR), Italy
Lorenzo Massimi: Department of Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Roma, Italy
Gregorio Sgrigna: Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET), National Research Council (CNR), 05010 Porano (TR), Italy
Carlo Calfapietra: Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET), National Research Council (CNR), 05010 Porano (TR), Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-19

Abstract: In this study, we have evaluated the efficiency of a chemical fractionation procedure for the characterization of both the water-soluble and the insoluble fraction of the main elemental components of particulate matter (PM) deposited on urban leaves. The proposed analytical approach is based on the chemical analysis of leaf washing solutions and membrane filters used for their filtration. The ionic concentration of leaf washing solutions was compared with their electrical conductivity, making it a valuable proxy for the quantification of the water-soluble and ionic fraction of leaf deposited PM. The chemical composition of both the water-soluble and the insoluble fraction of PM, resulting from this fractionation procedure, was compared with results obtained by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersed X-Rays spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) and processed through chemometrics. Results obtained proved that the proposed approach is able to provide an estimation of total leaf deposited PM and it is highly reliable for the evaluation of the emission impact of different PM sources, being able to increase the selectivity of PM elemental components as specific source tracers; consequently providing useful information also for the assessment of human health risks.

Keywords: air quality; particulate matter; chemical fractionation; pollution source tracers; nature-based solutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:16:p:5717-:d:396149

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