A Multi-Analytical Approach to the Use of Conifer Needles as Passive Samplers of Particulate Matter and Organic Pollutants

Giulia  Bertolotti; Elena C.  Rada; Marco  Ragazzi; Alessandro  Chisté; Stefano  Gialanella

doi:10.4209/aaqr.2013.10.0308

A Multi-Analytical Approach to the Use of Conifer Needles as Passive Samplers of Particulate Matter and Organic Pollutants

Giulia Bertolotti ¹, Elena C. Rada², Marco Ragazzi², Alessandro Chisté², Stefano Gialanella¹

¹Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Università degli Studi di Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy
²Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale e Meccanica, Università degli Studi di Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy

Received: October 10, 2013
Revised: December 23, 2013
Accepted: January 22, 2014
Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2013.10.0308

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Cite this article:
Bertolotti, G., Rada, E.C., Ragazzi, M., Chisté, A. and Gialanella, S. (2014). A Multi-Analytical Approach to the Use of Conifer Needles as Passive Samplers of Particulate Matter and Organic Pollutants. Aerosol Air Qual. Res. 14: 677-685. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2013.10.0308

ABSTRACT

The present work regards the analysis of airborne pollutants emitted by an electric arc furnace steel making plant at a test site in Northern Italy and collected by conifer needles. The spatial and temporal trends of accumulation of Mn, Zn, Fe, Cr, Pb, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls dioxin revealed that the contribution from the steel making plant has never been particularly high, whereas traffic emerged as a significant pollution source. The benefits of combining bulk and single particle analysis in air pollution studies from different sources are also discussed.

Keywords: Air pollution; Heavy metals; Spruce needles; Steelmaking plant pollution