Ecological risks and potential sources of heavy metals in agricultural soils from Huanghuai Plain, China.

A total of 224 agricultural soil samples from Huanghuai Plain in China were investigated for the concentrations of seven heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn). The mean concentrations of the metals were 12, 0.17, 79, 0.

Characterization of individual airborne particles in Taiyuan City, China.

Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, China, is one of the most polluted cities in the world. To characterize the ambient particulate pollution, samples of particulates with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 microm (PM(10)) were collected during a 6-day campaign. Individual particles were analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscope with Energy-Dispersive Spectrometer (SEM-EDS) to determine their chemical composition.

Characteristics of water-soluble inorganic chemical components in size-resolved airborne particulate matters--Sheffield, UK.

To characterise the water-soluble inorganic components of PM(10) in the urban area of Sheffield, size-resolved aerosol samples were collected using an electric low pressure impactor (ELPI) during a 13-day sampling campaign in October and November 2006. Cl(-), NO(3)(-), SO(4)(2-), and NH(4)(+) were determined by ion chromatography, and Na(+), K(+), Mg(2+), and Ca(2+) by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Back trajectories analyses revealed that the air masses could be classified into two main groups.