Paper

Occurrence of Toxic Trace Metals in Health-Significant Atmospheric Particles


Authors:
Simeon Taole; Nnenesi Kgabi; Amanda Bubu
Abstract
In this study, the sampling of size segregated particulates was performed by using a three-stage Dekati PM10 Cascade Impactor. The concentration of toxic elements in the different particle sizes was determined using Particle Induced X-ray Emission. This study focused on determination of the concentration of toxic elements in different particle sizes. The highest level of particulate matter (PM) at daytime was 90 μg.m-3 while at night-time, the concentrations ranged between 0.04 µg.m-3 and 0.8 μg.m-3. The toxic elements Cr, Ni, V and Pb were identified in the PM10, PM2.5, PM1.0 and PM<1 samples. The Cr concentrations exceeded the limits of 1 μg.m-3 for NIOSH and also the 1.5 μg.m-3 limit for APCEL. The WHO standards of 0.5 μg.m-3 and 1 μg.m-3 for Pb and V respectively were not exceeded. The study suggests the need for more prolonged, continuous studies so as to establish trends and seasonal variations in particulate matter and toxic metals.
Keywords
Toxic Metals; Particulate Matter; Size Distribution; Sources of Atmospheric Particles; Particle Induced X-Ray Emission
StartPage
9
EndPage
15
Doi
10.5963/IJEP0501002
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