Spatial and temporal variation of heavy metals in PM10 and PM2.5 surrounding e-waste dismantling community in Buriram province

Abstract

Spatial and temporal variation of heavy metals in PM10 and PM2.5 surrounding e-waste dismantling community at Buriram Province were investigated during April and September. The aims of this study were to monitor and compare between those found at non- (NS) and e-waste dismantling house (ES) and open dump area (OD), and identify potential sources of heavy metals including As, Cr, Cu, Cd, Ni, Mn, Pb, Zn and Fe. The heavy metals in PM were analyzed by ICP-MS. The results showed that average PM2.5 and PM10 were highest at NS (33.8 ±18.8 µg/m3) and OD (57.6 ±17.5 µg/m3), respectively. PM2.5 was significantly correlated between ES with NS and reference area (RF), while those of PM10 has found some correlation with NS. For PM2.5, As, Cd, Cr, Mn, Pb, Zn, and Fe were highest at open dump area (0.230 ±0.093, 1.426 ±0.736, 9.604 ±17.111, 16.083 ±4.924, 56.021 ±28.563, 278.118 ±31.945, and 264.858 ±69.649 ng/m3, respectively) while Cu and Ni were highest at non-e-waste dismantling (46.655 ±20.339 ng/m3) and e-waste dismantling house (22.540 ±21.114 ng/m3). Heavy metals contaminated in PM10 shows the similarity of As (2.195 - 6.070 ng/m3) and Zn concentration (1,272.275 - 8,418.981 ng/m3) at all sampling sites. While Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Fe were found highly at non-e-waste dismantling house (5.918 ±8.318, 103.233 ±22.825, 1.972 ±1.062, 31.979 ±23.042, and 655.740 ±330.848, respectively). The temporal variation of heavy metals was explicitly found higher in September than in April. Meteorological factors, including wind speed, temperature, and relative humidity, had negative relationships with metals variation in PM. For the composition in PM2.5 and PM10 at all sampling sites, Zn had the highest compositions along with Fe, and the rest metals were mostly higher at the e-waste dismantling area. The integrated results between PCA and EF analysis show that Fe and Cr in PM2.5 were originated from a natural, while those of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, and As could be initiated from an e-waste dismantling in this area. For PM10, Cr, As, and Zn was originated from natural and Pb, Ni, and Cd had existed in the background environment. At the same time, Fe and Cu were originated from e-waste dismantling activities. Consequently, this study can be indicated that e-waste dismantling activities led to more heavy metals contamination in PM2.5 and PM10.