Large global variations in measured airborne metal concentrations driven by anthropogenic sources

Jacob Mcneill , Graydon Snider , Crystal L. Weagle , Brenna Walsh , Paul Bissonnette , Emily Stone , Ihab Abboud , Clement Akoshile , Nguyen Xuan Anh , Rajasekhar Balasubramanian , Jeffrey R. Brook , Craig Coburn , Aaron Cohen , Jinlu Dong , Graham Gagnon , Rebecca M. Garland , Kebin He , Brent N. Holben , Ralph Kahn , Jong Sung Kim , Nofel Lagrosas , Puji Lestari , Yang Liu , Farah Jeba , Khaled Shaifullah Joy , J. Vanderlei Martins , Amit Misra , Leslie K. Norford , Eduardo J. Quel , Abdus Salam , Bret Schichtel , S. N. Tripathi , Chien Wang (1) , Qiang Zhang , Michael Brauer , Mark D. Gibson , Yinon Rudich , Randall V. Martin

1 LAERO - Laboratoire d'aérologie

Globally consistent measurements of airborne metal concentrations in fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) are important for understanding potential health impacts, prioritizing air pollution mitigation strategies, and enabling global chemical transport model development. PM_2.5 filter samples (N ~ 800 from 19 locations) collected from a globally distributed surface particulate matter sampling network (SPARTAN) between January 2013 and April 2019 were analyzed for particulate mass and trace metals content. Metal concentrations exhibited pronounced spatial variation, primarily driven by anthropogenic activities. PM_2.5 levels of lead, arsenic, chromium, and zinc were significantly enriched at some locations by factors of 100-3000 compared to crustal concentrations. Levels of metals in PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ exceeded health guidelines at multiple sites. For example, Dhaka and Kanpur sites exceeded the US National Ambient Air 3-month Quality Standard for lead (150 ng m^-3). Kanpur, Hanoi, Beijing and Dhaka sites had annual mean arsenic concentrations that approached or exceeded the World Health Organization's risk level for arsenic (6.6 ng m^-3). The high concentrations of several potentially harmful metals in densely populated cites worldwide motivates expanded measurements and analyses.

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]

Jacob Mcneill, Graydon Snider, Crystal L. Weagle, Brenna Walsh, Paul Bissonnette, et al.. Large global variations in measured airborne metal concentrations driven by anthropogenic sources. Scientific Reports, 2020, 10, ⟨10.1038/s41598-020-78789-y⟩. ⟨insu-03671641⟩