HEAVY METALS IN AIR OF AN EASTERN CHINA COASTAL URBAN AREA AND THE YELLOW SEA

摘要

Elemental concentrations in suspended particulate matter were determined simultaneously by filter-sampling and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and ICP optical emission (ICP-OES) at a coastal, urban background site (Qingdao, Shandong, Eastern China) and an island site (Gosan, Jeju Island, Korea), in June 2003. At the coastal site, the concentrations of Cr, Co, Ni and As were in the range of 1-10 ng m~(-3), those of V, Cu, Zn and Pb in the range of ten to several hundreds of ng m~(-3). The level of Pb seems to have doubled, and those of Cu and Zn are increased by more than a factor of 3, since the mid 1990s. At the island site, the levels were 5-25 times lower than at the coastal site. Air from the Shandong east coast was advected to Jeju Island during two episodes of 1-3 days. For these episodes, an estimate is made on the atmospheric input of heavy metals into the Yellow Sea. These fluxes are similar to those observed in the North Sea in the early 1990s for most metals, but they exceed those by up-to-one order of magnitude for Cu and Pb. The deposition fluxes of Cu were 27 and 22 μg m~(-2) d~(-1), and those of Pb 116 and 89 μg m~(-2) d~(-1), during the two episodes of transport, respectively. More monitoring measurement is suggested to improve the state of knowledge on atmospheric and marine environments in Eastern China and the neighbouring seas.