Scientific Reports (Dec 2020)
Large global variations in measured airborne metal concentrations driven by anthropogenic sources
- Jacob McNeill,
- Graydon Snider,
- Crystal L. Weagle,
- Brenna Walsh,
- Paul Bissonnette,
- Emily Stone,
- Ihab Abboud,
- Clement Akoshile,
- Nguyen Xuan Anh,
- Rajasekhar Balasubramanian,
- Jeffrey R. Brook,
- Craig Coburn,
- Aaron Cohen,
- Jinlu Dong,
- Graham Gagnon,
- Rebecca M. Garland,
- Kebin He,
- Brent N. Holben,
- Ralph Kahn,
- Jong Sung Kim,
- Nofel Lagrosas,
- Puji Lestari,
- Yang Liu,
- Farah Jeba,
- Khaled Shaifullah Joy,
- J. Vanderlei Martins,
- Amit Misra,
- Leslie K. Norford,
- Eduardo J. Quel,
- Abdus Salam,
- Bret Schichtel,
- S. N. Tripathi,
- Chien Wang,
- Qiang Zhang,
- Michael Brauer,
- Mark D. Gibson,
- Yinon Rudich,
- Randall V. Martin
Affiliations
- Jacob McNeill
- Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University
- Graydon Snider
- Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University
- Crystal L. Weagle
- Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
- Brenna Walsh
- Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
- Paul Bissonnette
- Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University
- Emily Stone
- Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University
- Ihab Abboud
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Clement Akoshile
- Department of Physics, University of Ilorin
- Nguyen Xuan Anh
- Institute of Geophysics, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
- Rajasekhar Balasubramanian
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore
- Jeffrey R. Brook
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto
- Craig Coburn
- Department of Geography and Environment, University of Lethbridge
- Aaron Cohen
- Health Effects Institute
- Jinlu Dong
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University
- Graham Gagnon
- Department of Civil and Resource Engineering, Dalhousie University
- Rebecca M. Garland
- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
- Kebin He
- Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University
- Brent N. Holben
- Earth Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Ralph Kahn
- Earth Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Jong Sung Kim
- Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University
- Nofel Lagrosas
- Manila Observatory, Ateneo de Manila University Campus
- Puji Lestari
- Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB)
- Yang Liu
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
- Farah Jeba
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dhaka
- Khaled Shaifullah Joy
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dhaka
- J. Vanderlei Martins
- Department of Physics and Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Amit Misra
- Center for Environmental Science and Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
- Leslie K. Norford
- Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Eduardo J. Quel
- UNIDEF (CITEDEF-CONICET)
- Abdus Salam
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dhaka
- Bret Schichtel
- Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University
- S. N. Tripathi
- Center for Environmental Science and Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
- Chien Wang
- Laboratoire d’Aerologie, CNRS/UPS
- Qiang Zhang
- Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University
- Michael Brauer
- School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia
- Mark D. Gibson
- Department of Civil and Resource Engineering, Dalhousie University
- Yinon Rudich
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute
- Randall V. Martin
- Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78789-y
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 10,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 12
Abstract
Abstract Globally consistent measurements of airborne metal concentrations in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are important for understanding potential health impacts, prioritizing air pollution mitigation strategies, and enabling global chemical transport model development. PM2.5 filter samples (N ~ 800 from 19 locations) collected from a globally distributed surface particulate matter sampling network (SPARTAN) between January 2013 and April 2019 were analyzed for particulate mass and trace metals content. Metal concentrations exhibited pronounced spatial variation, primarily driven by anthropogenic activities. PM2.5 levels of lead, arsenic, chromium, and zinc were significantly enriched at some locations by factors of 100–3000 compared to crustal concentrations. Levels of metals in PM2.5 and PM10 exceeded health guidelines at multiple sites. For example, Dhaka and Kanpur sites exceeded the US National Ambient Air 3-month Quality Standard for lead (150 ng m−3). Kanpur, Hanoi, Beijing and Dhaka sites had annual mean arsenic concentrations that approached or exceeded the World Health Organization’s risk level for arsenic (6.6 ng m−3). The high concentrations of several potentially harmful metals in densely populated cites worldwide motivates expanded measurements and analyses.
