Elemental Composition, Source Tracking, And Air Quality Assessment Of Pm2.5 And Pm10 Pollution In Qatar

Abstract

Particulate matter (PM) pollution is one of the major environmental pollution issues severely affecting human health and air quality all over the world. Based on the recent World Health Organization (WHO) report, PM levels were considered relatively high in Qatar. This might mainly be attributed to arid climate, but also due to rapid industrialization and urbanization as well as traffic. The literature on PM pollution and its source is limited in Qatar and the region. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess the air quality based on PM2.5 and PM10 levels at different locations in Qatar, determine the elemental composition of PM2.5 and PM10 to trace their sources, and create a map by using Geographical Information System (GIS) to show the air quality based on PM levels in select locations in Qatar. A total of 100 samples (60 for PM2.5 and 40 for PM10) were collected using SKC Deployable Particulate Sampler (DPS) System for 24-hr during the months of September to December, 2016. The sampling was conducted at five different locations, namely, Qatar University (QU), Education City (EC), Aspire Zone (AZ), Whole Sale Market area (WM), and Al-Wakrah City (AW). The elemental composition of PM samples was determined using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The iv relationship between the environmental conditions and PM levels were also established.