Multivariate analysis of metals in particulate
matter of atmospheric air from Minas Gerais,
Brazil: high metal concentrations
Accepted 15th
March, 2017
Cláudia A. Fernandes Pereira1,
Luiz Fernando O. Maia1, Fernando Barbosa J. R2, Cleide A.
Bomfeti1 and Jairo Lisboa Rodrigues1
1Instituto de Ciência, Engenharia e Tecnologia, Universidade Federal
dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, Teófilo Otoni, 39803371 Minas Gerais,
Brasil. 2Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade
de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, 14040-903 São Paulo, Brasil.
Considering the importance
of the evaluation of air pollutants in areas
with higher population flow and that the
particulate material is usually an air pollutant
associated with health problems, this work aimed
to determine the concentrations of particulate
matter in two distinct fractions: the Total
Suspended Particles (TSP) and Particulate Matter
with diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5). It also
aimed to evaluate the concentrations of
twenty-one (21) chemical elements present in
particulate matter and conducted a study of
multivariate analysis. Samplings were performed
from October to December, 2013 in the urban area
of Montes Claros in Minas Gerais in sites
identified as central, industrial and control
areas. The sampling method used for particulate
matter collection was the Large Volume Sampler
and the determination of chemical elements was
performed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass
Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results for PM2.5 and
TSP are below the limits recommended by major
environmental legislations. However, the
concentration of some chemical elements are
above the recommended values, highlighting
Barium (Ba), zinc (Zn) nickel (Ni) and vanadium
(V) in central and industrial area samples. Some
similarities were also observed between sampling
sites and the concentrations of chemical
elements showing regularities and common origin
between samples in the studied areas.
Key words:
Metals, particulate matter, TSP, PM2.5, air
quality.
This is an open access article
published under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Cite this article as:
Pereira CAF, Maia LFO, Barbosa FJR, Bomfeti CA, Rodrigues JL (2017).
Multivariate analysis of metals in particulate matter of atmospheric air from
Minas Gerais, Brazil: high metal concentrations. Acad. J. Environ. Sci. 5(3):
039-051.
