title: An economic passive sampling method to detect particulate pollutants using magnetic measurements.
abstract: Identifying particulate matter (PM) emitted from industrial processes into the atmosphere is an important issue in environmental research. This paper presents a passive sampling method using simple artificial samplers that maintains the advantage of bio-monitoring, but overcomes some of its disadvantages. The samplers were tested in a heavily polluted area (Linfen, China) and compared to results from leaf samples. Spatial variations of magnetic susceptibility from artificial passive samplers and leaf samples show very similar patterns. Scanning electron microscopy suggests that the collected PM are mostly in the range of 2-25 μm; frequent occurrence of spherical shape indicates industrial combustion dominates PM emission. Magnetic properties around power plants show different features than other plants. This sampling method provides a suitable and economic tool for semi-quantifying temporal and spatial distribution of air quality; they can be installed in a regular grid and calibrate the weight of PM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr.12, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Liwan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr.12, 72076 Tübingen, Germany. Electronic address: erwin.appel@uni-tuebingen.de.
authors.forename: Erwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Appel
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Shouyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Mingming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D001272:Atmosphere; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008280:Magnetics / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D011210:Power Plants
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Linfen city; Magnetic monitoring; Passive sampling; Pollution assessment