Multi-year monitoring of atmospheric dust fall as a sink for lead in an agro-industrial and petrochemical city of Argentina. Geo-accumulation and ecological risk assessment

SAFE, YASMIN L.; PALENZONA, MANUELA; LUCCHI, LEANDRO D.; DOMINI, CLAUDIA E.; PEREYRA, MARCELO T.

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND HEALTH

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2023

0269-4042

A multi-year monitoring data set ofpotentially harmful elements (PHEs), which are presentin the chemical composition of atmospheric settleableparticulate matter (SPM) in the urban, industrialand port areas in Bahía Blanca, was studied inorder to assess potential ecological risk. The selectedPHEs were metal elements of local and regional environmentalimportance (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn).Seventeen sampling campaigns were carried outbetween April 2013 and September 2019. After themicrowave-assisted acid digestion of samples, thetotal contents of the PHEs were determined by ICPOES.The annual dry deposition rate, the indexesassociated with the potential ecological risk (RI) andthe degree of geo-accumulation (Igeo) of each PHEwere calculated. The results indicated that: (a) thereare 3 groups (I, II, III) of PHEs with differentiatedconcentration levels, ranked I (Pb > Zn > Cu) > II(Cr ≈ Ni) > III (Cd) (p < 0.01) in all the studiedareas; (b) the median of the total deposition rate was1 mg cm−2. month−1 with a significant relative contributionof Pb; (c) a considerable increase in geo-accumulationof Pb indicated that SPM was functioningas a sink for Pb, and also reflected a significant progressiveincrease in the potential ecological risk in allsites (p < 0.01); and (d) there were chemometricallyidentified potential sources of Pb, Cu and Zn emissionsthat would be associated mainly to the resuspensionof dust from geogenic, industrial and urbanorigin, and to a lesser extent, to other gaseous emissionsof the industrial sector. This work highlightsthree major aspects of environmental assessment: (a)the value of continuous monitoring as an importanttool to detect long-term trends; (b) the importance ofthe role of dust fall as a useful environmental indicatorof lead geo-accumulation; and (c) the great utilityof geo-accumulation and potential ecological riskindices as rapid quantitative assessment tools of environmentalpollution.