Evaluation of airborne particulate matter pollution in Kenitra City, Morocco

• Main Authors: Abdelfettah Benchrif, Fouad Benyaïch, Yves Noack, Mustapha Zghaïd, Moussa Bounakhla, Mounia Tahri
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais em Bacias Hidrográficas (IPABHi) 2013-04-01
• Series: Revista Ambiente & Água
• Subjects: X-ray fluorescence, cluster analysis, principal component analysis
• Online Access: http://www.ambi-agua.net/seer/index.php/ambi-agua/article/view/1042

Two size fractions of atmospheric particulate matter < 2.5 µm and 2.5-10 µm were collected in Kenitra City from February 2007 to February 2008. The sampling was done using a Gent Stacked sampler on nuclepore polycarbonate filters and the collected filters were analyzed using Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). The particulate matter trends show higher concentrations during the summer as compared to other seasons. The highest concentrations were obtained for Ca in coarse particles and Fe for fine particles. However, the lowest concentrations were observed for Cd in both particulate sizes. The principal component analysis (PCA) based on multivariate study enabled the identification of soil, road dust and traffic emissions as common sources for coarse and fine particles.