Temporal and Spatial Variations of Potentially Toxic Elements in PM₁₀ Collected in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia

Air pollution causes environmental and health problems around the world. In this study, ambient particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter equal to or less than 10 microns (PM₁₀) has been collected at three different locations in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia. The locations are characterized by differences in terms of traffic, residential intensity, industrial, and non-road mobile machinery activities. The monthly and annual mass concentration of the PM₁₀ exceeds the recommended annual limit of the World Health Organization (15 µg/m³) and the European air quality standard (40 µg/m³) at the three locations. The collected PM₁₀ samples as well as a certified reference material of atmospheric particulates (NIST 1678a) were digested in aqua regia using microwave digestion. The quantitative elemental analysis was carried out using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The variations of the elemental concentration in terms of workdays, weekends, seasons, and annual were determined at the three locations. The spatial and temporal elemental variations were found to be different between the three sites, pointing to local influences that should be further evaluated. The concentration of Cd was found to be high and may cause health problems.