Elemental Characterization of Ambient Particulate Matter for a Globally Distributed Monitoring Network: Methodology and Implications

Xuan Liu; Jay R Turner; Christopher R Oxford; Jacob McNeill; Brenna Walsh; Emmie Le Roy; Crystal L Weagle; Emily Stone; Haihui Zhu; Wenyu Liu; Zilin Wei; Nicole P Hyslop; Jason Giacomo; Ann M Dillner; Abdus Salam; Al-Amin Hossen; Zubayer Islam; Ihab Abboud; Clement Akoshile; Omar Amador-Muñoz; Nguyen Xuan Anh; Araya Asfaw; Rajasekhar Balasubramanian; Rachel Ying-Wen Chang; Craig Coburn; Sagnik Dey; David J Diner; Jinlu Dong; Tareq Farrah; Paterne Gahungu; Rebecca M Garland; Michel Grutter de la Mora; Sina Hasheminassab; Juanette John; Jhoon Kim; Jong Sung Kim; Kristy Langerman; Pei-Chen Lee; Puji Lestari; Yang Liu; Tesfaye Mamo; Mathieu Martins; Olga L Mayol-Bracero; Mogesh Naidoo; Sang Seo Park; Yoav Schechner; Robyn Schofield; Sachchida N Tripathi; Eli Windwer; Ming-Tsang Wu; Qiang Zhang; Michael Brauer; Yinon Rudich; Randall V Martin

doi:10.1021/acsestair.3c00069

Elemental Characterization of Ambient Particulate Matter for a Globally Distributed Monitoring Network: Methodology and Implications

ACS EST Air. 2024 Mar 11;1(4):283-293. doi: 10.1021/acsestair.3c00069. eCollection 2024 Apr 12.

Authors

Xuan Liu¹, Jay R Turner¹, Christopher R Oxford¹, Jacob McNeill¹, Brenna Walsh¹, Emmie Le Roy¹, Crystal L Weagle¹, Emily Stone¹, Haihui Zhu¹, Wenyu Liu¹, Zilin Wei¹, Nicole P Hyslop², Jason Giacomo², Ann M Dillner², Abdus Salam³, Al-Amin Hossen³, Zubayer Islam³, Ihab Abboud⁴, Clement Akoshile⁵, Omar Amador-Muñoz⁶, Nguyen Xuan Anh⁷, Araya Asfaw⁸, Rajasekhar Balasubramanian⁹, Rachel Ying-Wen Chang¹⁰, Craig Coburn¹¹, Sagnik Dey¹², David J Diner¹³, Jinlu Dong¹⁴, Tareq Farrah¹⁵, Paterne Gahungu¹⁶, Rebecca M Garland^{17

18

19}, Michel Grutter de la Mora⁶, Sina Hasheminassab¹³, Juanette John¹⁷, Jhoon Kim²⁰, Jong Sung Kim²¹, Kristy Langerman²², Pei-Chen Lee²³, Puji Lestari²⁴, Yang Liu²⁵, Tesfaye Mamo²⁶, Mathieu Martins¹⁵, Olga L Mayol-Bracero²⁷, Mogesh Naidoo¹⁷, Sang Seo Park²⁸, Yoav Schechner²⁹, Robyn Schofield³⁰, Sachchida N Tripathi³¹, Eli Windwer³², Ming-Tsang Wu^{33

34}, Qiang Zhang³⁵, Michael Brauer³⁶, Yinon Rudich³², Randall V Martin¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States.
² Air Quality Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States.
³ Department of Chemistry, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
⁴ Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T4, Canada.
⁵ Department of Physics, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria.
⁶ Instituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico.
⁷ Institute of Geophysics, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi 11307, Vietnam.
⁸ Institute of Geophysics and Space Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 1176, Ethiopia.
⁹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576, Singapore.
¹⁰ Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Geography and Environment, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canada.
¹² Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India.
¹³ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, United States.
¹⁴ School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
¹⁵ Research Laboratories, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi 127788, United Arab Emirates.
¹⁶ Institute of Applied Statistics, University of Burundi, Bujumbura BP1550, Burundi.
¹⁷ Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
¹⁸ Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2531, South Africa.
¹⁹ Department of Geography, Geo-Informatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
²⁰ Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea.
²¹ Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada.
²² Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa.
²³ Department of Public Health, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
²⁴ Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung 40132, Indonesia.
²⁵ Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States.
²⁶ Physics Department, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 1176, Ethiopia.
²⁷ Department of Environmental Science, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00931, United States.
²⁸ Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
²⁹ Department of Electrical Engineering, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel.
³⁰ School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia.
³¹ Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India.
³² Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
³³ PhD Program in Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
³⁴ Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
³⁵ Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
³⁶ School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3, Canada.

PMID: 38633206
PMCID: PMC11020157 (available on 2025-03-11)
DOI: 10.1021/acsestair.3c00069

Abstract

Global ground-level measurements of elements in ambient particulate matter (PM) can provide valuable information to understand the distribution of dust and trace elements, assess health impacts, and investigate emission sources. We use X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to characterize the elemental composition of PM samples collected from 27 globally distributed sites in the Surface PARTiculate mAtter Network (SPARTAN) over 2019-2023. Consistent protocols are applied to collect all samples and analyze them at one central laboratory, which facilitates comparison across different sites. Multiple quality assurance measures are performed, including applying reference materials that resemble typical PM samples, acceptance testing, and routine quality control. Method detection limits and uncertainties are estimated. Concentrations of dust and trace element oxides (TEO) are determined from the elemental dataset. In addition to sites in arid regions, a moderately high mean dust concentration (6 μg/m³) in PM_2.5 is also found in Dhaka (Bangladesh) along with a high average TEO level (6 μg/m³). High carcinogenic risk (>1 cancer case per 100000 adults) from airborne arsenic is observed in Dhaka (Bangladesh), Kanpur (India), and Hanoi (Vietnam). Industries of informal lead-acid battery and e-waste recycling as well as coal-fired brick kilns likely contribute to the elevated trace element concentrations found in Dhaka.