Characterisation of soluble Inorganic PM10 aerosols in Brisbane

Abstract

PM10 samples were collected from three sites in Brisbane over a period of 20 months. These samples were analysed for water soluble ionic species (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, NH4+, Cl-,NO3-, SO42-, F-, Br-, NO2-, PO4-3) using Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP_OES )and Ion exchange chromatography (IC). Metallic species (Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe, Mn, Al) that are soluble in acid were also analysed using ICP-OES. Na+ and Cl- concentrations were high in all samples. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was used to identify seasonal differences and weekend/weekday trends of the sample concentrations. This showed that seasonal variation played a major role in the soluble aerosol concentrations of the samples. PCA was also used to identify the sources of the samples and it could be concluded that sea salt is the major source of these aerosol samples.