Abstract
Different analytical techniques were used in this work to investigate the relationships between oxidative potential (OP) and metal, Br, P, S, and Se concentration in PM10 samples. Dithiothreitol and ascorbic acid acellular assays were used to determine the oxidative potential (OP) in PM10 samples. The particle-induced X-ray emission technique was used to estimate the mass concentration of specific chemical elements. PM10 samples were collected in Lecce, a coastal site of the Central Mediterranean away from large sources of local pollution. Both winter and spring samples were analyzed to study the seasonal dependence of the relationships between OP values and chemical element concentrations. The Redundancy Discriminant Analysis (RDA) was applied to (volume- and mass-normalized) OP values as response variables and metal, Br, P, S, and Se concentrations as explanatory variables. RDA triplots allowed to visualize the main relationships between PM10 OP values and corresponding chemical element concentrations. Spearman correlation coefficients were also used to investigate the relationships between OP values and metal, Br, P, S, and Se concentrations, besides comparing RDA outcomes. The integrated approach based on two different techniques allowed to better highlight the potentially harmful effects associated with specific metals and other chemical elements in PM10 samples.
Highlights
Particulate matter (PM) is a complex mixture of particles with different characteristics and different chemical components
The integrated approach based on two different techniques allowed to better highlight the potentially harmful effects associated with specific metals and other chemical elements in PM10 samples
Heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) are generally produced by industrial, combustion, extraction, and processing activities. They are able to exert their toxic effects by the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [1]. These toxic effects are generally quantified by oxidative potential (OP), which is a measure of the capacity of PM to Atmosphere 2020, 11, 367; doi:10.3390/atmos11040367
Summary
Particulate matter (PM) is a complex mixture of particles with different characteristics (e.g., mass, size, shape, surface area, solubility, acidity, and number) and different chemical components. Nishita-Hara et al [26] carried out a continuous sampling of both fine and coarse PM particles in spring 2016 in Fukuoka (Japan) to study the effects of the main chemical components of Asian dust on PM OP They investigated the contributions of both total and water-soluble metals to the OP determined by the DTT assay activity. Saffari et al [27] performed a year-long sampling campaign of quasi-ultrafine particles (with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 0.25 μm) at 10 distinct sites with different characteristics near Los Angeles (USA) They observed, during winter, a strong correlation between DTT activity and transition metals (Cr, Mn, V, Fe, Cu, Cd, and Zn) generally associated with the vehicular traffic source. OP and chemical element concentration were evaluated since the PM10 samples were collected both in winter and in spring
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