The Use of Size Distributions of Spheroidal Carbonaceous Particles in Swimming Pool Deposits for Evaluating Atmospheric Particle Behaviour

Abstract

To clarify the relationship between the transport distance of spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) and particle size, we investigated the spatial distribution of SCP sizes in swimming pool deposits in the central Osaka Plain, central Japan. Median particle size of SCPs generally decreases with distance (0 to ∼20 km) downwind from the local coastal industrial area where SCP sources are distributed widely. This suggests that most SCPs found in the study area are derived from the industrial area. Samples with >40 % of particles >20 μm were predominantly collected within 2 km of the industrial area, while samples with >40 % of particles 20 μm indicates that the origin of SCPs is within a few kilometres upwind of the sample site, whereas the presence of higher proportion of particles <10 μm indicates that their source is generally further than 10 km upwind. However, other factors may affect the size distribution of SCPs at a given location (e.g. fuel type, quality of the particle precipitator and topography of the terrain). Pool deposits provide more suitable samples than lake sediments for investigating atmospheric precipitation.