Physiochemical characteristics and oxidative potential of ambient air particulate matter (PM10) during dust and non-dust storm events: a case study in Tehran, Iran

Soheila Rezaei; Kazem Naddafi; Mohammad Sadegh Hassanvand; Ramin Nabizadeh; Masud Yunesian; Maryam Ghanbarian; Zahra Atafar; Maryam Faraji; Shahrokh Nazmara; Babak Mahmoudi; Mohammad Ghanbari Ghozikali; Masoud Ghanbarian; Akbar Gholampour

doi:10.1007/s40201-018-0303-9

Physiochemical characteristics and oxidative potential of ambient air particulate matter (PM₁₀) during dust and non-dust storm events: a case study in Tehran, Iran

J Environ Health Sci Eng. 2018 Jun 29;16(2):147-158. doi: 10.1007/s40201-018-0303-9. eCollection 2018 Dec.

Authors

Soheila Rezaei¹, Kazem Naddafi^{1

2}, Mohammad Sadegh Hassanvand², Ramin Nabizadeh^{1

2}, Masud Yunesian^{1

3}, Maryam Ghanbarian¹, Zahra Atafar¹, Maryam Faraji¹, Shahrokh Nazmara^{1

4}, Babak Mahmoudi¹, Mohammad Ghanbari Ghozikali⁵, Masoud Ghanbarian⁶, Akbar Gholampour^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² 2Center for Air Pollution Research (CAPR), Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ 3Research Methodology and Data Analysis Department, Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ 4Center for Water Quality Research (CWQR), Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ 5Department of Environmental Health Engineering, East Azerbaijan Province Health Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
⁶ Department of Environment, Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran.
⁷ 7Health and Environment Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
⁸ 8Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated the characteristics of metal(loid)s, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and oxidative potential (OP) in PM₁₀ during dust and non-dust days in a rural and an urban area in Tehran. Water-soluble ions, metal(loid)s, PAHs, and OP were measured using ion chromatography (IC), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and dithiothreitol (DTT) assay respectively. The results showed that the average concentrations of ambient PM₁₀ were 284 ± 90.4 and 123 ± 31.4 μg m^-3 on dusty and regular days in urban areas respectively, and were 258 ± 48.3 and 124 ± 41.4 μg m^-3 on dusty and regular days in rural areas, respectively; these values were 95% above the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline level. The crustal elements Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Al, Si, Fe and Ti were the dominant for PM₁₀ on dusty days, and NO^- ₃ and SO₄ ^2- were dominant for PM₁₀ on regular days. The average ± SD concentrations of total PAHs were 34.3 ± 22.5 and 55.1 ± 28.3 ng m^-3 on dusty and regular days, respectively, with the maximum value occurring on inversion days. The average OP was 8.90 ± 7.15 and 1.41 ± 0.35 and was 11.4 ± 3.97 and 19.9 ± 8.67 (nmol min^-1 μg PM₁₀ ^-1) for water and methanol extracts on dusty and regular days, respectively, with the lowest value occurring on dusty days. The OP was highly associated with Cu and Mn. Briefly; the results of this study demonstrate that OP is mass independent and consequence a promising proxy for PM mass.

Keywords: Chemical characteristics; DTT assay; Dust storm; Oxidative potential; Particulate matter; Tehran.