Abstract
Globally consistent measurements of airborne metal concentrations in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are important for understanding potential health impacts, prioritizing air pollution mitigation strategies, and enabling global chemical transport model development. PM2.5 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. PM2.5 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 PM2.5 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.
Highlights
Consistent measurements of airborne metal concentrations in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are important for understanding potential health impacts, prioritizing air pollution mitigation strategies, and enabling global chemical transport model development. PM2.5 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
The mea√n P M2.5 mass concentrations at each Surface PARTiculate mAtter Network (SPARTAN) site are shown in Fig. 1, with standard error bars (SE = σ/ n, σ = sample standard deviation, n = number of samples) for each site mean
Over 800 samples of fine particulate matter ( PM2.5) from 19 unique sampling sites located across four continents were collected and analyzed using consistent protocols, with concentrations of 15 different trace metals reported
Summary
Consistent measurements of airborne metal concentrations in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are important for understanding potential health impacts, prioritizing air pollution mitigation strategies, and enabling global chemical transport model development. PM2.5 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. Consistent measurements of airborne metal concentrations in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are important for understanding potential health impacts, prioritizing air pollution mitigation strategies, and enabling global chemical transport model development. Measurements of PM2.5 composition are needed to assess the global distribution of these deleterious metals in fine particulate matter, as they could pose health risks to populations living in areas of high PM2.5 pollution. No other global network has measured the trace metal concentrations in PM2.5 These observations are needed to better understand particulate matter sources and loadings, to assess emerging emission inventories and evaluate spatially-resolved concentration predictions made by chemical transport models on a global scale[35,36] and to understand local and regional impacts of emission sources
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