Characterization of PM-Bound Heavy Metal at Road Environment in Tianjin: Size Distribution and Source Identification

• Main Authors: Qijun Zhang, Hongjun Mao, Yanjie Zhang, Lin Wu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
• Series: Atmosphere
• Subjects: roadside environment; PM-bound heavy metal; size distribution; source identification
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/9/1130

To determine the size distribution and source identification of PM-bound heavy metals in roadside environments, four different particle size (<0.2 μm, 0.2–0.5 μm, 0.5–1.0 μm and 1.0–2.5 μm) samples were collected and analyzed from four different types of roads during the summer of 2015 in Tianjin. The results showed that the concentrations of PM-bound heavy metal from the roadside environment sampling sites were 597 ± 251 ng/m³ (BD), 546 ± 316 ng/m³ (FK), 518 ± 310 ng/m³ (JY) and 640 ± 237 ng/m³ (WH). There were differences in the concentrations of the heavy metal elements in the four different particle size fractions. The concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd, Sn and Pb were the highest in the larger particle size fraction (0.5–2.5 μm). Cd, Cu, Zn and Pb were the elements that indicated emissions from tire wear and brake pad wear. The concentrations of Cr, Co and Ni were the highest in the smallest particle size fraction (<0.5 μm), indicating that motor vehicle exhaust was their main source. The correlation analysis results showed that there are differences in the concentration, distribution and correlation of different PM-bound heavy metals in different particle size fractions. The PCA results show that the accumulative interpretation variances of PM_0.2, PM_0.2–0.5, PM_0.5–1.0 and PM_1.0–2.5 reached 80.29%, 79.56%, 79.57% and 71.42%, respectively. Vehicle exhaust was the primary source of PM-bound heavy metal collected from the roadside sampling sites, while brake pad wear and tire wear were the second most common sources of the heavy metal.