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Comparative Study
. 2015 Oct 16;12(10):13085-103.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph121013085.

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

Elwira Zajusz-Zubek  1 , Konrad Kaczmarek  2 , Anna Mainka  3
Affiliations
Comparative Study

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

Elwira Zajusz-Zubek et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

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; chemical fractionation; enrichment factor (EF); power plants; principal component analysis (PCA); trace elements.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Localization of sampling sites in Southern Poland (Map data: ©2015 Google, ORION-ME).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Dendrogram obtained in a cluster analysis for the average PM1 concentration from four sites in the surroundings of working power plants.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Chemical form distribution of trace elements as a percentage of the elemental concentration in PM1 collected at site (a) P1; (b) P2; (c) P3; (d) P4.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Chemical form distribution of trace elements as a percentage of the elemental concentration in PM1 collected at site (a) P1; (b) P2; (c) P3; (d) P4.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Enrichment factors of elements with Mn as the reference element.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The scatterplot of the loading factors for Fraction 3. (a) for the first and second principal components; (b) for the first and third principal components projection of variables according to the principle component analysis (PCA).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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