Temporal variation and distribution of size fractionated: platinum group elements and heavy metals in total suspended particulate

Heavy metals and PGEs are accumulating in the environment, due to industrial activities and car emissions. In this research, we chose the heavy industrial city (Changji, China) as a study area, and used ICP-MS to examine concentrations of some platinum group elements (PGEs) [platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), and rhodium (Rh)] and heavy metals in total suspended particulate (TSP) in arid urban environment. We also investigated seasonal variation and distribution of size-fractionated atmospheric particulate matter for PGEs and heavy metals in TSP. The results indicated that PGEs and heavy metal concentrations in TSP followed the same seasonal trend: winter > autumn > spring > summer; this may be attributed to seasonal variation in pollution sources in Changji. However, there was a difference between PGEs and heavy metal distributions in size-fractionated atmospheric particulate matter in TSP. The highest concentrations of PGEs were not observed in the smallest size fraction of atmospheric particulate matter, while the concentrations of heavy metals increased as particulate matter size decreased. The emission mechanism of PGEs may lead to this special distribution of size fractionated.