Hourly chemical composition and source apportionment of PM in industrial and mining areas of SW Europe using a near real-time technique

Industrial and mining activities are important anthropogenic sources of metals and metalloids in the air. Traditionally, 24-h offline sampling of particulate matter (PM) is considered and chemical composition is determined by ICP-MS and ICP-OES analysis. In recent years, near real-time techniques have been developed that allow high time resolution (1-h) studies to be carried out. An example is the Xact 625i Ambient Metals Monitor, based on reel-to-reel filter tape sampling followed by nondestructive X-ray fluorescence analysis.

Our study presents the results of metals and metalloids sampling and analysis with Xact 625i over three years at three stations in a southwestern region of Europe with urban-industrial (Campus, Pérez-Vizcaíno et al., 2025), industrial (La Rabida) and mining (La Dehesa de Riotinto) influence. The high concentrations were associated with channeled and fugitive emissions from different sources: copper smelter, Port of Huelva, oil refinery, and/or open-pit mining. At the three stations, the daily, weekly and annual variation patterns of each element were obtained. Hourly As peaks in PM₁₀ of up to 311 ng m^-3 in the city of Huelva, 292 ng m^-3 in La Dehesa de Riotinto and in PM_2.5 of up to 578 ng m^-3 in La Rabida were measured. The application of the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF v5.0 EPA) model made it possible to identify sources and the contribution of each of them, showing the relevance of industrial and mining activities throughout the day.

This work highlights the need to conduct high time resolution studies to understand the hourly behavior of different pollutants and their correlation with meteorological parameters, complement air quality models, and better understand the impacts of atmospheric pollution on public health.

 

References

Pérez-Vizcaíno, P., Sánchez de la Campa, A.M., Sánchez-Rodas, D., de la Rosa, J.D., 2025. Application of a near real-time technique for the assessment of atmospheric arsenic and metals emissions from a copper smelter in an urban area of SW Europe. Environmental Pollution 367, 125602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.125602.