Determination of Aerosol Metals Pollutants in Falling Dust in Benghazi City, Libya

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the concentrations of selected aerosol metals in falling dust at different roadsides in Benghazi city. In order to do that, Flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS) technique has used to quantitative the areoles metals. Six composite samples were collected along roadsides in Benghazi city and each composite sample was represented average of five samples. The concentrations of aerosol metals of each site were based on density of traffic road, type of industrial activities and the number of population. Each measured sample was replicated three times to obtain representative and accurate values. Also, a statistical analysis including mean and standard deviation was carried out. Correlation coefficient of calibration curves of slandered selected metals was shown a good response, where the R2 value was ranged between 0.994 to 0.999. The range of concentrations of the aerosol metals were varied as following: Cobalt (90 - 344 mg/kg), iron (120 - 383 mg/kg), lead (153 - 740 mg/kg), zinc (78 - 468.7 mg/kg), copper (80 - 180 mg/kg), selenium (40 - 133 mg/kg), cadmium (90,344 mg/kg), potassium (318 - 2932 mg/kg), sodium (587.5 - 3006 mg/kg), calcium (286.6 - 1185.7 mg/kg) and magnesium (65 - 325.8 mg/kg). A significant positive correlation was shown between each pair of measured elements Pb/Zn, Pb/Co, Pb/Cu, Pb/Se, Zn/Co and Zn/Cu.