Particle size effect for metal pollution analysis of atmospherically deposited dust

The metallic compositions of 231 atmospherically deposited dust samples obtained from widely-differing environments in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia, have been investigated in relation to the particle size distributions. Sample data are presented which show that particle size classification is very important when analysing dust samples for atmospheric metal pollution studies. By cross-correlation and comparison, it was found that the best way to express the results of the metal concentration trend was as an average of particle ratios. Correlations between the six metals studied, namely Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn and Li, were found for every particle size (eight categories) and reveal that the metal concentrations increased as the particle size decreased. On the basis of this work, it is strongly recommended that future international standards for metal pollutants in atmospherically deposited dusts should be based on particle size fractions.