Notice of RetractionElemental Composition and Source Apportionment of Atmospheric Fine Particulates in Nanjing Sci-Tech Education Area, China

Notice of Retraction

After careful and considered review of the content of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of IEEE´s Publication Principles.

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To understand pollution level and possible sources of atmospheric fine particulates in the atmosphere of Nanjing Sci-Tech Education Area , samples of PM25 were collected and analyzed over three seasons from July 2002 to January 2003. The mass concentrations of PM25 and 14 principal component elements were obtained. The results show that the maximal value (188.47 μg m^-3) appeared in winter and the minimal value (78.33 μg m^-3) appeared in fall. The PM2.5 mass concentration is higher during the winter, decreases through the summer, and tends to be lowest during fall in Nanjing Sci-Tech Education Area. Among fourteen elements, the concentration of S is obviously higher than other elements. The sum of S, Si, K, Ca, Al, Na and Fe accounts for 90.8-97.2% of total mass of fourteen determined elements. There is obvious seasonal variation of elements composition with the higher elemental concentration in winter and the lower in summer and fall, which is most likely related to local sources and disadvantageous meteorological condition. Through principal components analysis, the possible sources of PM25 in Nanjing Sci-Tech Education Area include crustal re-suspension, vehicular emission and waste incineration, coal burning. The contributions of three sources are 50.37%, 20.78%, 16.91% respectively, which suggests that the source of PM2.5 is likely related to anthropogenic activities strongly.