engleski

Water-soluble ions in PM2.5. paricle fraction in Zagreb air, Croatia

Airborne particulate matter is a complex mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets suspended in the air, and have been found widely associated with health problems. They can also influence many atmospheric processes including visibility variations and cloud formation, and play a major rule in acidification of rainfalls and affect climate. The analyses of the aqueous extract of the aerosols shows, that the chemicals originating from motor vehicle exhausts, soil dust resuspension and industry emission, mainly occur in an easily water-soluble form, and are the dominant chemical species in aerosol particles, especially PM2.5. Daily PM2.5 samples were taken over a year 2014 in northern part of Zagreb air with moderate to high traffic density. Samples were analysed for water-soluble anion species (Cl-, NO3 -, SO4 2-, ) and cation species (Na+, NH4 +, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+), to investigate the relationship between pollutant mass concentrations, contribution of measured species to PM2.5 mass and the prediction of the pollutant sources. Mass concentrations of PM2.5 particle fraction were determined by gravimetry. Water-soluble ionic species were analysed using ion chromatography. Annual average PM2.5 mass concentration was 19.6 μg m-3. The annual average ion mass concentrations followed the order SO4 2- > NO3 - > NH4 + > K+ > Ca2+ > Cl- > Na+ > Mg2+. PM2.5 mass concentration was significantly influenced by the season, reaching their high values in the winter. The prediction of the pollutant sources, we ran the principal component analysis (PCA), which was performed using the STATISTICA 12.0 statistical packages.

air pollution; airborne particle; anion species; cation species

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