A comparison analysis of chemical composition of aerosols in the dust and non-dust periods in Beijing

Dust events occurred frequently in Beijing in recent years. In this work, 120 aerosol samples were collected in two typical dust events (21-22 March and 15 May) and a non-dust period in Beijing from March to May 2001. Samples were analyzed for major elemental components by the Proton Induced Xray Emission (PIXE) method. Results show that the enrichment factors of crustal elements such as Mg, Al, and Ti had little differences between the dust period and the non-dust period in Beijing, while the enrichment factors of other elements that have a relation to anthropogenic emissions were very low during the dust period. The results derived by using multivariate factor analysis from the observation data show that the sources such as soil dust, industry, and fuel combustion were among the major contributors to the particles in Beijing.