Large global variations in measured airborne metal concentrations driven by anthropogenic sources

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jacob McNeill, Dalhousie University; Graydon Snider, Dalhousie University; Crystal L. Weagle, Washington University; Brenna Walsh, Washington University; Paul Bissonnette, Dalhousie University; Emily Stone, Dalhousie University; Ihab Abboud, Environment & Climate Change Canada; Clement Akoshile, University of Ilorin; Nguyen Xuan Anh, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology; Rajasekhar Balasubramanian, National University of Singapore; Jeffrey R. Brook, University of Toronto; Craig Coburn, University of Lethbridge; Aaron Cohen, Health Effects Institute; Jinlu Dong, Tsinghua University; Graham Gagnon, Dalhousie University; Rebecca M. Garland, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR); Kebin He, Tsinghua University; Brent N. Holben, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Ralph Kahn, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Jong Song Kim, Dalhousie University; Nofel Lagrosas, Ateneo de Manila University Campus; Puji Lestari, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB); Yang Liu, Emory University; Farah Jeba, University of Dhaka; Khaled Shaifullah Joy, University of Dhaka; J. Vanderlei Martins, University of Maryland; Amit Misra, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur; Leslie K. Norford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Eduardo J. Quel, UNIDEF (CITEDEF-CONICET); Abdus Salam, University of Dhaka; Bret Schichtel, Colorado State University; S.N. Tripathi, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur; Chien Wang, Laboratoire d’Aerologie, CNRS/UPS; Qiang Zhang, Emory University; Michael Brauer, University of British Columbia; Mark D. Gibson, Dalhousie University; Yinon Rudich, Weizmann Institute of Science; Randall V. Martin, Dalhousie University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-12-11
• Publisher: NATURE RESEARCH
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2020.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78789-y
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 21817
• End Page: 21817
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies through the Health Effects Institute, by the ClimateWorks Foundation, and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. We thank the HERC labs for supplying filter weighing facilities. Data collection in Kanpur was supported by grant from the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) under real time air quality monitoring scheme. Data collection in Rehovot was supported in part by the Environmental Health Fund (Israel) and the Israel Science Foundation (grant #236/16). Partial support for the ITB site was by Ministry of Research, Technology & Higher Education, under World Class University (WCU) managed by Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). The views expressed here are of authors and do not necessarily reflect those of NAS or USAID. The Singapore site was supported by the Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) through the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), Center for Environmental Sensing and Modeling. The site in Atlanta was partially supported by NASA Applied Science Program (Grant # 80NSSC19K0191) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Contract #1588347 and #1363692). All data are freely available as a public good at http://www.spartan-network.org. We welcome expression of interest to collaborate with this grass-roots network.
• Keywords: PM2.5; AMBIENT AIR-POLLUTION; Multidisciplinary Sciences; TRACE-METALS; HEALTH; HEAVY-METALS; PARTICULATE MATTER; PM10; CHEMICAL-COMPOSITION; SOURCE IDENTIFICATION; Science & Technology - Other Topics; NOVA-SCOTIA; Science & Technology
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health

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.