Wintertime investigation of PM10 concentrations, sources, and relationship with different meteorological parameters

Bahadar Zeb; Allah Ditta; Khan Alam; Armin Sorooshian; Badshah Ud Din; Rashid Iqbal; Muhammed Habib Ur Rahman; Ahsan Raza; Mona S Alwahibi; Mohamed S Elshikh

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-49714-w

Wintertime investigation of PM₁₀ concentrations, sources, and relationship with different meteorological parameters

Sci Rep. 2024 Jan 2;14(1):154. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-49714-w.

Authors

Bahadar Zeb¹, Allah Ditta^{2

3}, Khan Alam⁴, Armin Sorooshian^{5

6}, Badshah Ud Din⁷, Rashid Iqbal⁸, Muhammed Habib Ur Rahman^{9

10}, Ahsan Raza^{11

12}, Mona S Alwahibi¹³, Mohamed S Elshikh¹³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mathematics, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Dir (Upper), 18000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. zebsbbu@sbbu.edu.pk.
² Department of Environmental Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Dir (U), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18000, Pakistan. allah.ditta@sbbu.edu.pk.
³ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia. allah.ditta@sbbu.edu.pk.
⁴ Department of Physics, University of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
⁶ Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
⁷ University Boys College, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Dir (U), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
⁸ Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
⁹ Department of Seed Science and Technology, Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, MNS University of Agriculture Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
¹⁰ Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), Crop Science, University of Bonn, 53115, Bonn, Germany.
¹¹ Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), Crop Science, University of Bonn, 53115, Bonn, Germany. araza@uni-bonn.de.
¹² Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374, Müncheberg, Germany. araza@uni-bonn.de.
¹³ Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, 11451, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Meteorological factors play a crucial role in affecting air quality in the urban environment. Peshawar is the capital city of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan and is a pollution hotspot. Sources of PM₁₀ and the influence of meteorological factors on PM₁₀ in this megacity have yet to be studied. The current study aims to investigate PM₁₀ mass concentration levels and composition, identify PM₁₀ sources, and quantify links between PM₁₀ and various meteorological parameters like temperature, relative humidity (RH), wind speed (WS), and rainfall (RF) during the winter months from December 2017 to February 2018. PM₁₀ mass concentrations vary from 180 - 1071 µg m^-3, with a mean value of 586 ± 217 µg m^-3. The highest concentration is observed in December, followed by January and February. The average values of the mass concentration of carbonaceous species (i.e., total carbon, organic carbon, and elemental carbon) are 102.41, 91.56, and 6.72 μgm^-3, respectively. Water-soluble ions adhere to the following concentration order: Ca²⁺ > Na⁺ > K⁺ > NH₄⁺ > Mg²⁺. Twenty-four elements (Al, Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Co, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Kr, Ag, Pb, Cu, and Cd) are detected in the current study by PIXE analysis. Five sources based on Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) modeling include industrial emissions, soil and re-suspended dust, household combustion, metallurgic industries, and vehicular emission. A positive relationship of PM₁₀ with temperature and relative humidity is observed (r = 0.46 and r = 0.56, respectively). A negative correlation of PM₁₀ is recorded with WS (r = - 0.27) and RF (r = - 0.46). This study's results motivate routine air quality monitoring owing to the high levels of pollution in this region. For this purpose, the establishment of air monitoring stations is highly suggested for both PM and meteorology. Air quality standards and legislation need to be revised and implemented. Moreover, the development of effective control strategies for air pollution is highly suggested.

Abstract

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