[Road dust loading and chemical composition at major cities in Fujian Province]

A total of 57 road dust and 16 urban soil samples were collected from four cities, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Putian in Fujian Province, China. Twenty-six elements, eight water soluble ions, organic carbon and elemental carbon in the fraction of particulate diameter less than 2.5 microm (PM2.5) derived through a suspension chamber were analyzed. The average loading of road dust with diameter less than 100 microm in the four cities ranged from 6.99 g x m(-2) to 10.11 g x m(-2), while the loading of PM2.5 ranged from 4.0 mg x m(-2) to 12.5 mg x m(-2). Both the soil and road dust samples were characterized with much higher concentrations of Si, Ca, Al, Fe and K. But for the anthropogenic elements such as Cu, Pb, Zn,Cr and Ti, much lower levels were found in the soil PM2.5, than those in the road dust PM2.5. Significantly higher levels of NH4+, NO3- and SO4(2-) were found in the road dust PM2.5 from Zhangzhou in comparison with those from other cities in this study. The calcium ion (Ca2+) content was significantly positively correlated with the Mg2+ content in the road dust PM2.5 from Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou. The levels of organic carbon (OC) in the road dust PM2.5 in these four cities were higher than those reported in Ji'nan, Shijiazhuang and Beijing while the levels of elemental carbon (EC) were all lower than those in the urban road dust from Beijing, Significant positive correlation between EC and OC was found in samples from Quanzhou and Putian, suggesting the same and/or similar sources. The result of mass balance indicated that higher percentage compositions were soil and OM in both Quanzhou and Putian. Based on the cluster analysis, the 57 road dust samples were divided into four types: influenced by atmospheric deposition, influenced by soil dust, influenced by atmospheric deposition and soil dust, and influenced by soil and construction dust.