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Temporary Variations and Sources of Trace Metal and Radionuclides in Atmospheric Aerosols of Málaga (Spain)

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Abstract

The present study focuses on the simultaneous analysis of metallic species and radionuclide data from January 2009 to December 2011 in the dust deposited on filters in Málaga (Spain). Some metallic elements (Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni) and radionuclides (7Be and 210Pb) have been determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy and gamma spectrometry, respectively. For this analysis, daily variation of PM10 mass concentration was additionally recorded at the nearest station belonging to the regional atmospheric pollution monitoring network. The comparison between 210Pb, elemental lead, and PM10 mass concentration reveals a different time variation for raining months, and an increase in the 210Pb/Pb ratio indicates local sources of the particulate mass. Principal components analysis (PCA) applied to the datasets and calculation of enrichment factors relative to soil and seawater reveal that the atmospheric aerosol chemistry in this area of the Mediterranean is mostly influenced by crustal and marine sources rather than anthropogenic ones.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to SCAI (Central Research Facilities) at the University of Málaga for their technical and analytical help.

Funding

We would like to express our gratitude to the Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, Spain, for their financial support to the Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory of the University of Málaga.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Research Facilities, Universidad de Málaga, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Elisa Gordo, Rocío González & Sergio Cañete

  2. Department of Applied Physics I, Universidad de Málaga, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Concepción Dueñas, María del Carmen Fernández & María Cabello

  3. Department of Radiology and Health Physics, OPHT and ORL Faculty of Medicine, University of Málaga, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Manuel Pérez

  4. Department of Applied Physics II, Universidad de Málaga, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Esperanza Liger

Authors
  1. Elisa Gordo
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  2. Rocío González
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  3. Concepción Dueñas
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  4. María del Carmen Fernández
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  5. Sergio Cañete
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  6. María Cabello
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  7. Manuel Pérez
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  8. Esperanza Liger
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elisa Gordo.

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Highlights

• Time series of 7Be, 210Pb, and metals recorded at Malaga are analyzed over a 3-year period.

• Correlation analysis for this period shows poor interactions between radionuclides and metals

• African dust and marine origin could be the principal source of aerosol particles

• Anthropogenic emissions could be the third source of aerosols

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Gordo, E., González, R., Dueñas, C. et al. Temporary Variations and Sources of Trace Metal and Radionuclides in Atmospheric Aerosols of Málaga (Spain). Water Air Soil Pollut 231, 419 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04790-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04790-w

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