Tesleem O Kolawole, Omowunmi S Olatunji, Olumuyiwa M Ajibade, Charles A Oyelami
{"title":"Sources and Level of Rare Earth Element Contamination of Atmospheric Dust in Nigeria.","authors":"Tesleem O Kolawole, Omowunmi S Olatunji, Olumuyiwa M Ajibade, Charles A Oyelami","doi":"10.5696/2156-9614-11.30.210611","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Rare earth element (REE) composition of atmospheric dust has recently been used to trace potential sources of dust pollution.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The present study aimed to determine the sources of atmospheric pollution in the study area using REE patterns and determine their level of pollution.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Twenty-five (25) atmospheric dust samples were collected in the study area, with five samples each from an industrial area, traffic area, dumpsite area, residential area and remote area in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. In addition, five (5) topsoil and two (2) rock samples (granite gneiss) were collected for comparison. Concentrations of REE were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The ratio of lanthanum/cerium (La/Ce), especially in some locations in industrial area (1.5), traffic area (1.5) and to some extent dumpsite area (1.1) was higher than in soil (0.2), upper continental crust (0.5) and the minimum value of fluid catalytic crackers (1.0). Generally, the respective average values of the ratios of La/praseodymium (Pr), La/neodymium (Nd) and La/samarium (Sm) in industrial area (32.1, 7.8 and 52.6) and traffic area (14.9, 4.4 and 26.8) were higher than their respective averages in soil (4.4, 1.1 and 6.2), rock (5.7, 1.9 and 14.1), upper continental crust (4.4, 1.1 and 6.6) and the minimum value in fluid catalytic crackers (5.8, 3.7 and 37.0). Meanwhile, their corresponding value in the dumpsite area, residential area and remote area were lower or similar to the geological background levels.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The contamination factors of REEs in the atmospheric dust of the industrial area and traffic area were classified as heavily contaminated, especially with light lanthanoid elements in REE. The degree of contamination of REEs in the atmospheric dust of industrial area (30.9) and traffic area (18.8) fell within the considerable contamination category. The high values of the light lanthanoid ratio and the contamination indices were attributed to their emission from the fired-power plant and vehicular exhaust.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Most of the composition of the atmospheric dust was sourced from the local geology of the study area as observed in the residential area and remote area, while the contamination in the industrial area and traffic area was attributed to human activities.</p><p><strong>Competing interests: </strong>The authors declare no competing financial interests.</p>","PeriodicalId":52138,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health and Pollution","volume":"11 30","pages":"210611"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2021-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8276721/pdf/","citationCount":"6","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Health and Pollution","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5696/2156-9614-11.30.210611","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2021/6/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 6
Abstract
Background: Rare earth element (REE) composition of atmospheric dust has recently been used to trace potential sources of dust pollution.
Objective: The present study aimed to determine the sources of atmospheric pollution in the study area using REE patterns and determine their level of pollution.
Methods: Twenty-five (25) atmospheric dust samples were collected in the study area, with five samples each from an industrial area, traffic area, dumpsite area, residential area and remote area in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. In addition, five (5) topsoil and two (2) rock samples (granite gneiss) were collected for comparison. Concentrations of REE were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
Results: The ratio of lanthanum/cerium (La/Ce), especially in some locations in industrial area (1.5), traffic area (1.5) and to some extent dumpsite area (1.1) was higher than in soil (0.2), upper continental crust (0.5) and the minimum value of fluid catalytic crackers (1.0). Generally, the respective average values of the ratios of La/praseodymium (Pr), La/neodymium (Nd) and La/samarium (Sm) in industrial area (32.1, 7.8 and 52.6) and traffic area (14.9, 4.4 and 26.8) were higher than their respective averages in soil (4.4, 1.1 and 6.2), rock (5.7, 1.9 and 14.1), upper continental crust (4.4, 1.1 and 6.6) and the minimum value in fluid catalytic crackers (5.8, 3.7 and 37.0). Meanwhile, their corresponding value in the dumpsite area, residential area and remote area were lower or similar to the geological background levels.
Discussion: The contamination factors of REEs in the atmospheric dust of the industrial area and traffic area were classified as heavily contaminated, especially with light lanthanoid elements in REE. The degree of contamination of REEs in the atmospheric dust of industrial area (30.9) and traffic area (18.8) fell within the considerable contamination category. The high values of the light lanthanoid ratio and the contamination indices were attributed to their emission from the fired-power plant and vehicular exhaust.
Conclusions: Most of the composition of the atmospheric dust was sourced from the local geology of the study area as observed in the residential area and remote area, while the contamination in the industrial area and traffic area was attributed to human activities.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Health and Pollution (JH&P) was initiated with funding from the European Union and World Bank and continues to be a Platinum Open Access Journal. There are no publication or viewing charges. That is, there are no charges to readers or authors. Upon peer-review and acceptance, all articles are made available online. The high-ranking editorial board is comprised of active members who participate in JH&P submissions and editorial policies. The Journal of Health and Pollution welcomes manuscripts based on original research as well as findings from re-interpretation and examination of existing data. JH&P focuses on point source pollution, related health impacts, environmental control and remediation technology. JH&P also has an interest in ambient and indoor pollution. Pollutants of particular interest include heavy metals, pesticides, radionuclides, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), air particulates (PM10 and PM2.5), and other severe and persistent toxins. JH&P emphasizes work relating directly to low and middle-income countries, however relevant work relating to high-income countries will be considered on a case-by-case basis.