Influence of industry on air pollution in Jelgava city [Latvia]

Grinfelde, Inga; Siltumens, Kristaps; Grybauskiene, Vilda; Bertins, Maris; Pilecka-Ulcugaceva, Jovita

Influence of industry on air pollution in Jelgava city [Latvia]

2024

Grinfelde, Inga | Siltumens, Kristaps | Grybauskiene, Vilda | Bertins, Maris | Pilecka-Ulcugaceva, Jovita

Air pollution is one of the most important environmental issues in the urban environment and causes health risks for citizens. The small particles PM 2.5 and PM10 consist of different trace elements. Industrial activities such as smelting, refining, and combustion processes are releasing significant amounts of metals into the air, leading to extensive air pollution. The aim of this study is to identify in which parts of Jelgava city the risks of air pollution caused by industry are the greatest. The snow samples were collected from 59 monitoring points in Jelgava and one in a rural area as reference. The snow samples were analysed using ICP MS for Al, Si, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Mo, Cd, Ba, W, and Pb concentration analysis. The hierarchical cluster analysis of normalized chemical element concentrations was used to divide monitoring points into four groups with high, medium-high, medium, and low risks of industrial air pollution. The industrial air pollution risks are unevenly distributed in Jelgava. High and Medium high risks are indicated in residential areas. The trace element concentration distribution shows significant differences between industrial air pollution risk groups. Kruskal-Wallis test shows statistically significant differences between the clusters for all trace elements (p-value < 0.0001; alpha 0.05). The results show strong evidence of industrial air pollution in Jelgava city. Mostly in Jelgava city dominates low and medium risk of industrial air pollution, however, there are three points with high industrial air pollution risks.

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