Distribution and Bioavailability of Nitrogen Species in Street Dust from Small Towns in Yongchuan, Chongqing

摘要

Most studies about urban street dust have been focused on big cities so far and less attention has been focused on small towns. In this paper, we collected 12 samples from four different localities (Commercial Area, Industrial Area, Shuangzhu Street, Xuefu Road) in small towns of Yongchuan District, Chongqing to investigate the concentration distribution and composition of nitrogen in street dust. The results revealed that dust samples from Commercial Area contain higher concentration of total nitrogen (TN) (e.g., 1672mg/kg) comparing with dust samples from other three sites (e.g., 196-682mg/kg). In addition, inorganic nitrogen was the predominant form in every site and accounted for 67%-89% of TN. Organic carbon (OC) and pH also had an effect on concentration and composition of TN.