Atmospheric Pollution Caused by Particulate Metals in Central Taiwan

Abstract

Dividing measured fluxes by measured airborne concentrations for varying particle size range identified dry deposition velocities of various metals. This study attempts to identify the dry deposition flux and dry deposition velocity of metallic particulates among large inhalable particles (> 10 μ m [PM10]), coarse particles (10–2.5 μ m [PM2.5 − 10]), and fine particles (< 2.5 μ m [PM2.5) at the Taichung harbor (TH) and Taichung airport (TA) sampling sites in central Taiwan from September to December in 2004 and 2005, respectively. The results indicate that dust, vehicle emissions, and marine salts are the principal sources of coarse and fine particulates at the TH sampling site. The analytical results also suggest that the average concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cr, and Mg in the total suspended particulate fraction and in coarse particles are highest at the TH sampling site. Additionally, measurement data demonstrate that the average concentrations of Mn, Cu, Zn, Cr, and Mg are also high at the TH site for all particle sizes. Both Mn and Pb concentrations resemble each other throughout all particle sizes. Results of this study further demonstrate that average TSP or PM10 concentrations measured in this study were less than Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency standard.