Magnitude of Air Pollution by Heavy Metals Associated with Aerosols Particles in Algiers

This study evaluated for the first time in Algeria the pollution levels reached by different size distribution of aerosol particles and heavy metals associated with them in a site influenced by the emissions of the road traffic in Algiers. The analysis of heavy metals Fe, Pb, Cu, Mn, Ni, Co and Cd transported by the aerosol particles shows that heavy metals are enriched in varying degrees in the different size distributions. The Pb and Cd and to a lesser degree the Ni and Co are more abundant in the PM-1. The Pb, for example shows a mass fraction of 0.58% in the PM-1, whereas this is only up to 0.40% in the PM-10. Conversely, Fe, Mn and Cu are enriched in the PM-10 than in the PM-1. In order to check in which extent some heavy metals present correlations between them, we compared the levels of heavy metals in pairs in size distribution PM-10, PM-3 and PM-1. These results confirm the data on the enrichment of Pb and Cd in the fraction of very fine particles and the predominant presence of Fe and Mn in coarse particles. Similar to the case of PM-10, we determined the median aerodynamic diameter d(50) of both heavy metals Fe and Pb, respectively representative of natural sources and entropy sources (road traffic). The differences in the sizes of metal particles and differences of origin or source can also be visualized by the curves of modal distribution. Distribution curves obtained both for Fe than for Pb are of the mono-modal type. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.