Evidence for Atmospheric Depositions Using Attic Dust, Spatial Mapping and Multivariate Stats

Abstract

Atmospheric deposition poses significant ecological concerns. It is very important in air pollution researches to provide fast and efficient access to qualitative and quantitative characterization. Case study was introduced in order to implement the multidisciplinary approach in the investigations. When monitoring the distribution of certain substances in the air, it is necessary to choose very carefully the medium that will reflect not only the current but also the long-term atmospheric deposition. Attic dust was examined as historical archive of anthropogenic emissions, with the aim of elucidating the pathways of enrichments associated with exploitation of Cu, Pb and Zn minerals in the Bregalnica river basin region. Attic dust samples were collected from 84 settlements. At each location for attic dust sampling, topsoil samples from the house yards were also collected. Mass spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma (ICP-MS) was applied as an analytical technique for multi-element determination. The universal kriging method with linear variogram interpolation was applied for the construction of spatial distribution maps. Data interpretation was considered in correlation with dominant geological units. Significantly enriched contents for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn have been correlated with the lithogenic dominance of Rifeous shales. Both Pb-Zn mine environs were identified as the most affected areas with lead and zinc enrichments, due to the continually long-time wind dust dispersion from the flotation tailings. Atypical deposition was revealed for In, Te and W, as silent tracker for air pollution.