ELEMENTAL AND POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBON COMPOSITIONS OF HOUSE DUST IN BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

摘要

This paper reports the chemical composition of house dust in suburban homes in Brisbane, Australia. The parameters examined included the particle size distribution, carbon content, elemental composition and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations. Elements such as Al, Ca, Mg, Cr, As, Cu, Zn and K were shown to be relatively abundant in the dust samples as were polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons like phenanthrene and fluoranthene. To facilitate the interpretation of the chemical analysis results and aid source identification, information on the composition of the house dusts, along with those on the building characteristics, types of indoor activities and distance of the building from vehicular emission sources were subjected to multivariate data projection and multi-criteria ranking. The results showed that the chemical composition of the dusts were strongly dependent on the building designs and distances of the building from outdoor pollutant sources.