Chemical and mineralogical characteristics of dry deposition in the surrounding of a cement factory in Jordan

Abstract

Dry deposition samples were collected from 28 residential rooftops in Fuhais, Jordan, during the dry seasons of the year 2004. The samples were analyzed for trace and heavy metal concentrations to investigate the impact of total suspended particles emitted from the cement industry in the city of Fuhais. The cement factory has been operational for the past 50 years, and the management was evaluating the use of petcoke blending to reduce fuel costs. No baseline data on heavy metals due to the current operations existed prior to this study. The present study showed that lead (Pb) and copper (Cu) concentrations were statistically significant in the northwest sector of the city compared with the other quadrants. This significance was attributed to the heavy traffic of trucks carrying raw materials and cement in and out of the cement factory as the main route of transportation to the factory runs through this quadrant of the city. Cadmium (Cd), aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), molybdenum (Mo), and chromium (Cr) concentrations were high in all sampled areas. The overall average concentrations of all elements except Mo were found to be higher on the rooftops of the residential areas in Fuhais City in comparison with a remote reference site near Amman where no anthropogenic activity exists. The trace and heavy metal concentrations and the mineralogical composition of dry deposition samples collected from residential rooftops are representative of the current cement industry operations, which dominate the air quality of Fuhais City. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.