International audience | Concentrations of 11 elements were quantified in five marine species from different trophic levels of a food web (algae, mussel, shrimp and fish), representative for shallow Senegalese coastal waters, and including species of commercial importance. Significant differences in element concentrations and bioaccumulation were demonstrated, revealing the utility of employing a suite of organisms as bioindicators to monitor metal contamination in coastal areas. There was no clear seasonal pattern in concentration of elements, however inter-site differences were observed. Calculations of transfer factors for all the studied elements showed that transfer factors from water were greater than those from sediments. For shrimp and mussel, the concentrations of Pb and Cd were below the EU's maximum level for human consumption, however high concentrations of arsenic in shrimp were recorded at all sites.

Foliage of three trembling aspen clones differing in O3 tolerance from Rhinelander, Kenosha and Kalamazoo were examined for 24 elements in the year 2001 and they were analyzed by INAA at reactor IBR-2, by AAS Varian 400 and by elemental analyzer LECO SC 132 and SP 228. In the fofliage of trembling aspen we found no statistically significant difference in the concentration of 22 elements except for K and Ni between clones. For the concentrations of elements between localities we found statistically significant difference for Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cl, Co, Cu, La, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Sm, Sr and Zn

The levels and characteristics of atmospheric metals vary in time and location, can result in various health impacts, which increases the challenge of air quality management. We aimed to investigate PM₂.₅-bound metals in multiple locations and propose a methodology for comparing metal elements across study regions and prioritizing source contributions through integrated health risk assessments. PM₂.₅-bound metals were collected in the urban, suburban, rural, and industrial regions of Taiwan between 2016 and 2018. We incorporated the positive matrix factorization (PMF) with health risk assessments (considering estimates of the margin of exposure (MOE) and excess cancer risk (ECR)) to prioritize sources for control. We found that the concentrations of Fe, Zn, V, Cu, and Mn (industry-related metals) were higher at the industrial site (Kaohsiung) and Ba, Cr, Ni, Mo, and Co (traffic-related metals) were higher at the urban site (Taipei). The rural site (Hualian) had good air quality, with low PM₂.₅ and metal concentrations. Most metal concentrations were higher during the cold season for all study sites, except for the rural. Ambient concentrations of Mn, Cr, and Pb obtained from all study sites presents a higher health risk of concern. In Kaohsiung, south Taiwan, PM₂.₅-bound metals from the iron ore and steel factory is suggested as the first target for control based on the calculated health risks (MOE < 1 and ECR > 10⁻⁶). Overall, we proposed an integrated strategy for initiating the source management prioritization of PM₂.₅-bound metals, which can aid an effort for policymaking.

To control the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), China imposed rigorous restrictions, which resulted in great reductions in pollutant emissions. This study examines the characteristics of air pollutants, including PM₂.₅ (particles with aerodynamic diameters < 2.5 μm), gas pollutants, water-soluble ions (WSIs), black carbon (BC) and elements, as well as the source apportionment of PM₂.₅ in Suzhou before, during and after the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday of 2020 (when China was under an unprecedented state of lockdown to restrict the COVID-19 outbreak). Compared to those before CNY, PM₂.₅, BC, SNA (sulfate, nitrate and ammonium), other ions, elements, and NO₂ and CO mass concentrations decreased by 9.9%–64.0% during CNY. The lockdown policy had strong (weak) effects on the diurnal variations in aerosol chemical compositions (gas pollutants). Compared to those before CNY, source concentrations and contributions of vehicle exhaust during CNY decreased by 72.9% and 21.7%, respectively. In contrast, increased contributions from coal combustion and industry were observed during CNY, which were recorded to be 2.9 and 1.7 times higher than those before CNY, respectively. This study highlights that the lockdown policy that was imposed in Suzhou during CNY not only reduced the mass concentrations of air pollutants but also modified their diurnal variations and the source contributions of PM₂.₅, which revealed the complex responses of PM₂.₅ sources to the rare, low emissions of anthropogenic pollutants that occurred during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Elemental concentrations of ambient aerosols are commonly sampled over 12–24 h, and the low time resolution puts a great limit on current understanding about the temporal variations and source apportionment based on receptor models. In this work, hourly-resolved concentrations of eighteen elements in PM₂.₅ at an urban site in Nanjing, a megacity in Yangtze River Delta of east China, were obtained by using a Xact 625 ambient metals monitor from 12/12/2016 to 12/31/2017. The influence of traffic activities was clearly reflected by the spikes of crustal elements (e.g., Fe, Ca, and Si) in the morning rush hour, and the firework burning and sandstorm events during the sampling periods were tracked by sharp enrichment of Ba, K and Fe, Ca, Si, Ti in PM₂.₅, respectively. To evaluate the advantage of hourly-resolved elements data in identifying impacts from specific emission sources, positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis was performed with the 1-h data set (PMF₁₋ₕ) and 23-h averaged data (PMF₂₃₋ₕ), respectively. The 4- and 6-factor PMF₂₃₋ₕ solutions had similar factor profiles and consistent factor contributions as the corresponding PMF₁₋ₕ solutions. However, due to the limit in inter-sample variability, PMF analysis with 23-h average data misclassified some major (e.g., K, Fe, Zn, Ca, and Si) and trace (e.g., Pb) elements in factor profiles, resulting in different absolute factor contributions between PMF₂₃₋ₕ and PMF₁₋ₕ solutions. These results suggested the use of high time-resolved data to obtain valid and robust source apportionment results.

Focusing on 27 rare filter-feeding megamouth sharks (Megachasma pelagios) captured as a by-catch of drift gillnet fishery in the Pacific Ocean to the east of Taiwan, this study analyzes the concentrations of 24 elements in their muscle, discusses the bioaccumulation of each element and the correlation between different elements, and assesses the potential health risks of consuming megamouth shark muscle. Among the 24 elements, mean concentrations of Ga, Ag, Li, Bi, Hg, Co, and Cd were relatively low ranging from 10⁻³ to 10⁻¹ mg/kg, those of Pb, Ba, Mn, Ni, As, Cr, B, Sr, Cu, and Zn ranged from 10⁻¹–10¹ mg/kg, and those of Fe, Ca, Al, K, Mg, Ti, and Na were relatively high ranging from 10¹ to 10³ mg/kg. The toxic element content index was most significantly correlated with the concentration of Cu. Hence, this study recommends that the concentration of Cu could be used as an indicator of metal accumulation in megamouth shark muscle. The log bioconcentration factor (BCF) ranged from less than 0 to 7.85 in shark muscle. For elements with a concentration of less than 100 μg/L in seawater, the log BCF was inversely proportional to their concentration in seawater. According to the correlation analysis, the accumulation of elements in muscle of megamouth sharks is primarily affected by the concentrations of dissolved elements in seawater, except that the accumulation of Hg, As, Cu, Ti, Al, and Fe appears to be mainly affected by feeding behaviors. The assessment of the health risk of consuming megamouth shark muscle showed that its total hazard index was greater than 1. This suggests that the long-term or high-frequency consumption of megamouth shark muscle may cause health hazards due to the accumulation of trace elements, particularly those with a large contribution of health risk, including As, Hg, and Cu.

Foliage dust contains heavy metal that may have harmful effects on human health. The elemental contents of tree leaves and foliage dust are especially useful to assess air environmental pollution. We studied the elemental concentrations in foliage dust and leaves of Acer pseudoplatanus along an urbanization gradient in Vienna, Austria. Samples were collected from urban, suburban and rural areas. We analysed 19 elements in both kind of samples: aluminium, barium, calcium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphor, sulphur, strontium and zinc. We found that the elemental concentrations of foliage dust were significantly higher in the urban area than in the rural area for aluminium, barium, iron, lead, phosphor and selenium. Elemental concentrations of leaves were significantly higher in urban than in rural area for manganese and strontium. Urbanization changed significantly the elemental concentrations of foliage dust and leaves and the applied method can be useful for monitoring the environmental load.

While terrestrial moss and other plants are frequently used for environmental mapping and monitoring projects, data on the regional geochemistry of humus are scarce. Humus, however, has a much larger life span than any plant material. It can be seen as the “environmental memory” of an area for at least the last 60–100 years. Here concentrations of 39 elements determined by ICP-MS and ICP AES, pH and ash content are presented for 259 samples of forest floor humus collected at an average sample density of 1 site/300km² in the Czech Republic. The scale of anomalies linked to known contamination sources (e.g., lignite mining and burning, metallurgical industry, coal fired power plants, metal smelters) is documented and discussed versus natural processes influencing humus quality. Most maps indicate a local impact from individual contamination sources: often more detailed sampling than used here would be needed to differentiate between likely sources.

Commercial aquaculture has a profound impact on coastal marine environments. Here, we investigate the spatial impact of intensive commercial finfish aquaculture on local meso-zooplankton communities and the bioaccumulation of aquaculturally-derived metals (and other elements) within zooplankton samples in the Vourlias Bay, Greece. The results indicate alterations to zooplankton community composition correlate with increased eutrophic compound concentrations in the water column in closer proximity to aquaculture stations (100–300 m from fish cages). During the summer sampling, higher concentrations of accumulated metals within zooplankton samples were found at reference stations furthest from fish cages (>1000 m). During the winter sampling, however, spatial differences in accumulated metal concentrations were limited. We suggest metals are rapidly accumulated at lower trophic levels near aquaculture stations and are then dispersed to greater distances while ascending the trophic chain. This research provides good evidence for future investigations into zooplankton as an environmental impact bioindicator for aquaculture.

Urban fugitive dust samples were collected to determine the chemical profiles of fugitive dust over Xi'an. Seventy eight samples were collected and divided into categories of paved road dust, construction dust, cement dust, and soil dust. Eighteen elements, including Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Ba, and Pb, and eight water–soluble inorganic ions, including Na+, Mg2−, Ca2−, NH4−, F−, Cl−, NO3− and SO42−, were measured. The most abundant elements in these urban dust samples were Al, Si, Ca, and Fe. Al, Si, K, and Ti and showed strong positive correlations with each other, indicating they are typical dust trace elements. In contrast, elements of Ca, Zn, As, and Pb had negative correlations to crustal elements. Si/Al, K/Al, Ti/Al, Mn/Al, and Fe/Al ratios varied insignificantly among these four samples types; these ratios are similar to the properties of loess, desert, and Gobi soil dust reported in previous studies. A significantly higher Ca/Al ratio was dominant in the chemical profile of the cement samples. In addition, high Pb/Al and Zn/Al ratios were detected in comparison with those in the Gobi soil, desert soil, and loess soil samples, which indicated that Pb/Al and Zn/Al ratios can be considered as markers of urban dust. To t a l water–soluble ions occupied only a small fraction (<5%) in the urban fugitive soil samples indicating that most of the materials in the fugitive dust were insoluble. Ca2+ and SO42− were the most abundant ions in all samples. Most of the Ca and K in the fugitive soil samples were in insoluble phases, which differ significantly in comparison with combustion sources. A strong correlation was observed between Ca2+ and estimated CO32− levels indicating that most of Ca2+ was in the form of CaCO3 rather than other calcium minerals in Xi’an fugitive dust.