Heavy metals in urban ambient PM10 and soil background in eight cities around China

The ambient PM(10) and background soil samples were collected and analyzed with ICP-AES in eight cities around China to investigate the levels of ten heavy metals (Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb). The mean concentrations of ten heavy metals in PM(10) of the eight cities of China followed the order of Zn > Pb > Mn > Cu > Ni > Cr > Co > V. The metals in the ambient PM(10) and soil were compared in each city to evaluate the heavy metal mass fraction from anthropogenic sources in ambient air. The CD values in these cities were all above 0.2, indicating that the ingredients spectrums of PM(10) and soil vary markedly. Most heavy metals were enriched in PM(10), except Fe and Ti. The results showed that almost all the cities suffer important heavy metal pollution from anthropogenic sources. The eight cities were also grouped according to their similarity in heavy metals of ambient PM(10) by cluster analysis to investigate the relationship between the heavy metals and the pollution sources of each city. The conclusion was that the eight cities were divided into three clusters which had similar industrial type and economy scale: the first cluster consisted of Shenzhen, Wuxi, and Guiyang; followed by Jinan and Zhengzhou as the second grouping; and the third group had Taiyuan, Urumqi, and Luoyang.