Elemental Concentrations in Urban and Rural Dust in Spokane County, WA
Faculty Mentor
Carmen Nezat
Document Type
Poster
Start Date
10-5-2023 9:00 AM
End Date
10-5-2023 10:45 AM
Location
PUB NCR
Department
Environmental Science
Abstract
Particulate matter in the air we breathe is known to have adverse health risks. The Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency (SRCAA) maintains seven air quality monitoring stations that measure particulate matter less than 10 micrometers (known as PM10) in Spokane County, including locations in the city of Spokane and Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). The objective of the study was to compare the heavy metal content of PM10 between urban and rural locations (city of Spokane and Turnbull NWR, respectively). PM10 was collected at both locations for three days per month over five months during 2003-2004, and prepared for analyses by digesting samples in concentrated HNO3 using a microwave digestion system (US EPA Method 3051; CEM MARS Microwave Digester). These digests were analyzed using an Inductively Coupled Plasma‐Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP‐OES) to determine the concentration of multiple elements including major ions (Ca, K, Mg, Na) and heavy metals (Cu, Pb, and Zn; US EPA Method 200.7). I expected to see higher heavy metal concentrations in Spokane compared to the Turnbull NWR due to land use differences. However, preliminary analysis suggests similar concentrations among the two sites. For example, the mean Ca concentrations were 20 mg/L (±7.1) and 23 (±10.3) mg/L in Spokane and Turnbull, respectively and the mean Zn concentrations were 0.74 (±0.31) mg/L and 0.56 (±0.36) mg/L, respectively. Other factors that affect elemental concentrations of PM10 are being investigated.
Recommended Citation
Richardson, Claire and Desimone, Carson, "Elemental Concentrations in Urban and Rural Dust in Spokane County, WA" (2023). 2023 Symposium. 4.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2023/res_2023/p1_2023/4
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Elemental Concentrations in Urban and Rural Dust in Spokane County, WA
PUB NCR
Particulate matter in the air we breathe is known to have adverse health risks. The Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency (SRCAA) maintains seven air quality monitoring stations that measure particulate matter less than 10 micrometers (known as PM10) in Spokane County, including locations in the city of Spokane and Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). The objective of the study was to compare the heavy metal content of PM10 between urban and rural locations (city of Spokane and Turnbull NWR, respectively). PM10 was collected at both locations for three days per month over five months during 2003-2004, and prepared for analyses by digesting samples in concentrated HNO3 using a microwave digestion system (US EPA Method 3051; CEM MARS Microwave Digester). These digests were analyzed using an Inductively Coupled Plasma‐Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP‐OES) to determine the concentration of multiple elements including major ions (Ca, K, Mg, Na) and heavy metals (Cu, Pb, and Zn; US EPA Method 200.7). I expected to see higher heavy metal concentrations in Spokane compared to the Turnbull NWR due to land use differences. However, preliminary analysis suggests similar concentrations among the two sites. For example, the mean Ca concentrations were 20 mg/L (±7.1) and 23 (±10.3) mg/L in Spokane and Turnbull, respectively and the mean Zn concentrations were 0.74 (±0.31) mg/L and 0.56 (±0.36) mg/L, respectively. Other factors that affect elemental concentrations of PM10 are being investigated.
