Search

Ninety-six particulate matter (PM10) chemical source profiles for geological sources in typical cities of southwest China were acquired from Source Profile Shared Service in China. Twenty-six elements (Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Sr, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ba, Be, Tl and Pb), nine ions (F-, Cl-, SO42-, NO3-, Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+), and carbon-containing species (organic carbon and elemental carbon) were determined to construct these profiles. Individual source profiles were averaged and compared to quantify similarities and differences in chemical abundances using the profile-compositing method. Overall, the major components of PM10 in geological sources were crustal minerals and undefined fraction. Different chemical species could be used as tracers for various types of geological dust in the region that resulted from different anthropogenic influence. For example, elemental carbon, V and Zn could be used as tracers for urban paved road dust; Al, Si, K+ and NH4+ for agricultural soil; Al and Si for natural soil; and SO42- for urban resuspended dust. The enrichment factor analysis showed that Cu, Se, Sr and Ba were highly enriched by human activities in geological dust samples from south-west China. Elemental ratios were taken to highlight the features of geological dust from south-west China by comparing with northern urban fugitive dust, loess and desert samples. Low Si/Al and Fe/Al ratios can be used as markers to trace geological sources from southwestern China. High Pb/Al and Zn/Al ratios observed in urban areas demonstrated that urban geological dust was influenced seriously by non-crustal sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in air along an altitudinal transect on Balang Mountain in western China was measured by deploying XAD-2 resin based passive air samplers in duplicate at seven sites with elevations ranging from 1242 to 4485 m above sea level for five consecutive six-month periods between 2005 and 2008. Analyzed by gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry, concentrations of hexachlorobenzene were highest, followed by hexachlorocyclohexanes, DDT-related compounds and PCB congeners 28 and 52. Except for hexachlorobenzene, which had largely uniform concentrations in space and time, there were clear seasonal variations with concentrations in summer being higher than in winter. With a few exceptions, concentrations that vary little with altitude suggest that the presence of these chemicals in the area is almost entirely due to atmospheric transport, most likely from the Chengdu plain. This is supported by similarities in the relative abundance of different compounds and in the differences between summer and winter concentrations measured in the city of Chengdu and in the mountains. Furthermore, air mass trajectories during the sampling period often originate to the East, passing over the Western part of the Sichuan basin, including the Chengdu plain, prior to arriving at the sampling sites. Higher summer time values in the mountains are due to more contaminated air being blown into the region, presumably due either to higher pesticide usage in summer or due to higher temperatures leading to higher evaporation in source regions. Air and soil from the region are in equilibrium with respect to α-HCH, γ-HCH, and HCB, whereas a situation of net deposition prevails for p,p'-DDE and p,p'-DDT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]