title: Long-term monitoring of airborne nickel (Ni) pollution in association with some potential source processes in the urban environment.
abstract: The environmental behavior and pollution status of nickel (Ni) were investigated in seven major cities in Korea over a 13-year time span (1998-2010). The mean concentrations of Ni measured during the whole study period fell within the range of 3.71 (Gwangju: GJ) to 12.6ngm(-3) (Incheon: IC). Although Ni values showed a good comparability in a relatively large spatial scale, its values in most cities (6 out of 7) were subject to moderate reductions over the study period. To assess the effect of major sources on the long-term distribution of Ni, the relationship between their concentrations and the potent source processes like non-road transportation sources (e.g., ship and aircraft emissions) were examined from some cities with port and airport facilities. The potential impact of long-range transport of Asian dust particles in controlling Ni levels was also evaluated. The overall results suggest that the Ni levels were subject to gradual reductions over the study period irrespective of changes in such localized non-road source activities. The pollution of Ni at all the study sites was maintained well below the international threshold (Directive 2004/107/EC) value of 20ngm(-3).
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ki-Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Dong-Eui University, Busan 614-714, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: zangho@deu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Zang-Ho
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Shon
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment & Energy, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Puteri T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Mauulida
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, Jeju National University, Jeju 690-756, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Keun
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D002947:Cities; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D009532:Nickel / Q000032:analysis*; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000737:chemistry; D012621:Seasons; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D004391:Dust; D052638:Particulate Matter; D009532:Nickel
keywords: Airborne Ni; Asian dust; Korea; Long-term trends; Urban environment