Seasonal and spatial variation of trace elements in multi-size airborne particulate matters of Beijing, China: Mass concentration, enrichment characteristics, source apportionment, chemical speciation and bioavailability

Abstract

The seasonal and spatial variation characteristics of 19 elements (Al, As, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, S, Sb, Se, Zn) in TSP/PM10/PM2.5 samples were investigated, which were collected from April 2011 to January 2012 simultaneously at an urban downtown site, a traffic roadside site, a suburban site, and a rural site in Beijing. The elevated concentrations of several toxic trace elements (As, Cd, Mn, Ni, Pb, etc.) in particles revealed that the contamination of toxic elements in Beijing could not be neglected. Positive matrix factorization method (PMF) was applied for source apportionment of trace elements in PM, and three factors (crust related sources, combustion sources, and traffic and steel industrial related sources) were identified. Furthermore, the chemical speciation and bioavailability of various elements were identified by applying European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) procedure. Our results showed that eight toxic elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb and Zn) exhibited higher mobility in PM2.5 than in PM10. Notably, elements of As, Cd, Pb and Zn were presented with higher mobility than the other elements, and these elements were lightly to release into the environment and easily available to human body. Additionally, As, Cd, Pb and Zn also accounted for higher percentages in the bound to mobile fractions at the central urban areas of Beijing. Therefore, special concerns should be paid to these toxic trace elements which had relatively high mobility in fine particles, when planning and implementing the comprehensive air pollution mitigation policies in Beijing.