Study of Trace and Heavy Metals in Rural and Urban Aerosols of Uludağ and Bursa (Turkey)

Abstract

The concentrations of heavy, trace elements and major ions measuredin the Uludag and Bursa aerosols were investigated to assess size distributions, spatial and temporal variability, sources and source regions affecting the composition of aerosols in Uludag and Bursa. A total of 81 samples were collected in two sites, one in Bursa city and another in the Uludag Mountain during two sampling campaigns. Daily samples were collected using a high volume sampler on Whatman 41 cellulose filters in Uludag, while three days interval samples were collected in Bursa using an automatic dichotomous sampler on PTFE Teflon filters. Samples were analysed for 15 trace and heavy metals (Al, Fe, Ba, Na, Mg, K, Mn, Ca, Cu), (V, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Zn), and 4 major ions (SO42-, NO3-, Cl-), (NH4+) using ICP-AES, GFAAS, HPLC and UV/VIS Spectrophotometer,respectively. In general, concentrations of the metals measured inUludag aerosols were lower than those in Bursa. The concentrations of crustal elements were higher in summer than winter, while anthropogenic elements had higher concentrations in winter than summer. Most of the mass of crustal elements was concentrated in the coarse mode while the mass of the heavy metals was concentrated in the fine mode. Factor analysis revealed four factors with sources including crustal, industrial and combustion. Back trajectory calculations were used to determine long range contributions. These calculations showed that contributions were mostly from European countries, former Soviet Union countries, Black Sea and North Africa.