Abstract
The concentrations of pollutants in precipitation are indicators of their abundance in the atmosphere. The deposition of heavy metals and inorganic reactive nitrogen (Nr) through precipitation was assessed for monsoon season in Delhi, India. The wet deposition fluxes for heavy metals followed the order, Hg < Cu < Zn < Co < Ba < Cd < Ag < As < Mn < Cr < Fe < Pb < Ni < Al and for Nr followed the order, NO3− < NH4+. Fractional acidity and ammonia availability index indicated that acidity in the precipitation was effectively neutralized by alkaline species. Furthermore, enrichment factor of heavy metals indicated that rainfall was contaminated with Cd and Hg (EF > 10,000) showing maximum enrichments among all the studied heavy metals. CWT analysis for monsoon season showed more than 70% of contributions by air trajectories passing over the densely populated northeastern IGP region for all the observed heavy metals and inorganic reactive nitrogen species. Correlation and PCA analysis showed that abundant metals such as Al, Fe and Mn were mainly of crustal origin, whereas rest of the heavy metals showed anthropogenic contributions from vehicles, industries, fossil fuels, biomass burning, etc. Availability of quality deposition data is of utmost importance in South Asia due to rapid economic growth and prevailing data gaps in this region. Wet scavenging of trace metals could also be useful in exploring basic information for evaluation of toxic potential of non-essential trace metals and their associated human health risks due to domestic use and consumption of rainwater.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available with the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Adamiec E, Jarosz-Krzemińska E, Wieszała R (2016) Heavy metals from non-exhaust vehicle emissions in urban and motorway road dusts. Environ Monit Assess 188:1–11
Adriano DC (2001) Trace elements in terrestrial environments: biogeochemistry, bioavailability, and risks of metals. Springer
Al-Khashman OA (2009) Chemical characteristics of rainwater collected at a western site of Jordan. Atmos Res 91:53–61
Al-Momani IF (2003) Trace elements in atmospheric precipitation at Northern Jordan measured by ICP-MS: acidity and possible sources. Atmos Environ 37:4507–4515
Astel A, Mazerski J, Polkowska Ż, Namieśnik J (2004) Application of PCA and time series analysis in studies of precipitation in Tricity (Poland). Adv Environ Res 8:337–349
Bacardit M, Camarero L (2009) Fluxes of Al, Fe, Ti, Mn, Pb, Cd, Zn, Ni, Cu, and As in monthly bulk deposition over the Pyrenees (SW Europe): the influence of meteorology on the atmospheric component of trace element cycles and its implications for high mountain lakes. J Geophys Res Biogeosciences. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JG000732
Báez A, Belmont R, García R et al (2007) Chemical composition of rainwater collected at a southwest site of Mexico City, Mexico. Atmos Res 86:61–75
Batbold C, Chonokhuu S, Buuveijargal K, Gankhuyag K (2021) Source apportionment and spatial distribution of heavy metals in atmospheric settled dust of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28:45474–45485. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13861-2
Behera SN, Sharma M, Aneja VP, Balasubramanian R (2013) Ammonia in the atmosphere: a review on emission sources, atmospheric chemistry and deposition on terrestrial bodies. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20:8092–8131
Celle-Jeanton H, Travi Y, Loÿe-Pilot M-D et al (2009) Rainwater chemistry at a Mediterranean inland station (Avignon, France): local contribution versus long-range supply. Atmos Res 91:118–126
Cheng MC, You CF (2010) Sources of major ions and heavy metals in rainwater associated with typhoon events in southwestern Taiwan. J Geochemical Explor 105:106–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2010.04.010
Cherednichenko VS, Cherednichenko AV, Cherednichenko AV et al (2021) Heavy metal deposition through precipitation in Kazakhstan. Heliyon 7:e05844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05844
Cleland EE, Harpole WS (2010) Nitrogen enrichment and plant communities. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1195:46–61
Coelho CH, Allen AG, Fornaro A et al (2011) Wet deposition of major ions in a rural area impacted by biomass burning emissions. Atmos Environ 45:5260–5265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.06.063
Cong Z, Kang S, Liu X, Wang G (2007) Elemental composition of aerosol in the Nam Co region, Tibetan Plateau, during summer monsoon season. Atmos Environ 41:1180–1187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.09.046
Cong Z, Kang S, Zhang Y, Li X (2010) Atmospheric wet deposition of trace elements to central Tibetan Plateau. Appl Geochemistry 25:1415–1421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2010.06.011
Connan O, Maro D, Hébert D et al (2013) Wet and dry deposition of particles associated metals (Cd, Pb, Zn, Ni, Hg) in a rural wetland site, Marais Vernier, France. Atmos Environ 67:394–403
Csavina J, Field J, Taylor MP et al (2012) A review on the importance of metals and metalloids in atmospheric dust and aerosol from mining operations. Sci Total Environ 433:58–73
Deboudt K, Flament P, Bertho ML (2004) Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations in atmospheric wet deposition at a coastal station in Western Europe. Water Air Soil Pollut 151:335–359. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:WATE.0000009906.55895.30
Galloway JN, Dentener FJ, Capone DG et al (2004) Nitrogen cycles: past, present, and future. Biogeochemistry 70:153–226
Gaonkar CV, Kumar A, Matta VM, Kurian S (2020) Assessment of crustal element and trace metal concentrations in atmospheric particulate matter over a coastal city in the Eastern Arabian Sea. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 70:78–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2019.1680458
Golomb D, Ryan D, Eby N et al (1997) Atmospheric deposition of toxics onto Massachusetts Bay—I. Metals Atmos Environ 31:1349–1359
Hjortenkrans DST, Bergbäck BG, Häggerud AV (2007) Metal emissions from brake linings and tires: case studies of Stockholm, Sweden 1995/1998 and 2005. Environ Sci Technol 41:5224–5230
Hu G-P, Balasubramanian R (2003) Wet deposition of trace metals in Singapore. Water Air Soil Pollut 144:285–300
Huang RJ, Duan JJ, Li Y, ping Y, et al (2019) Looking forward to 2030: Nitrogen and the sustainable development goals. Atmos Environ 6:1–7. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD026803
Jain CD, Madhavan BL, Ratnam MV (2019) Source apportionment of rainwater chemical composition to investigate the transport of lower atmospheric pollutants to the UTLS region. Environ Pollut 248:166–174
Jollife IT, Cadima J (2016) Principal component analysis: a review and recent developments. Philos Trans R Soc A Math Phys Eng Sci. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2015.0202
Katoch A, Kulshrestha UC (2021) Gaseous and particulate reactive nitrogen species in the indoor air of selected households in New Delhi. Environ Monit Assess 193:1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-08991-6
Keresztesi Á, Birsan MV, Nita IA et al (2019) Assessing the neutralisation, wet deposition and source contributions of the precipitation chemistry over Europe during 2000–2017. Environ Sci Eur 31:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-019-0234-9
Kulshrestha UC, Sarkar AK, Srivastava SS, Parashar DC (1995) Wet-only and bulk deposition studies at New Delhi (India). Water Air Soil Pollut 85:2137–2142. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01186150
Kulshrestha UC, Sarkar AK, Srivastava SS, Parashar DC (1996) Investigation into atmospheric deposition through precipitation studies at New Delhi (India). Atmos Environ 30:4149–4154
Kulshrestha UC, Kulshrestha MJ, Sekar R et al (2003) Chemical characteristics of rainwater at an urban site of south-central India. Atmos Environ 37:3019–3026. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(03)00266-8
Kulshrestha UC, Granat L, Engardt M, Rodhe H (2005) Review of precipitation monitoring studies in India-a search for regional patterns. Atmos Environ 39:7403–7419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.08.035
Kulshrestha UC, Reddy LAK, Satyanarayana J, Kulshrestha MJ (2009) Real-time wet scavenging of major chemical constituents of aerosols and role of rain intensity in Indian region. Atmos Environ 43:5123–5127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.07.025
Kumar B, Singh S, Gupta GP et al (2016) Long range transport and wet deposition fluxes of major chemical species in snow at Gulmarg in North Western Himalayas (India). Aerosol Air Qual Res 16:606–617. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2015.01.0056
Li C, Kang S, Zhang Q, Kaspari S (2007) Major ionic composition of precipitation in the Nam Co region, Central Tibetan Plateau. Atmos Res 85:351–360
Li Y-M, Pan Y-P, Wang Y-S et al (2012) Chemical characteristics and sources of trace metals in precipitation collected from a typical industrial city in Northern China. Huan Jing ke Xue Huanjing Kexue 33:3712–3717
Liu L, Zhang X, Lu X (2016) The composition, seasonal variation, and potential sources of the atmospheric wet sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) deposition in the southwest of China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23:6363–6375. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5844-1
Ma Y, Tang Y, Xu H et al (2019) Bulk/wet deposition of trace metals to rural, industrial, and urban areas in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 169:185–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2018.11.002
Majumdar A, Satpathy J, Kayee J, Das R (2020) Trace metal composition of rainwater and aerosol from Kolkata, a megacity in eastern India. SN Appl Sci 2:1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03933-2
Melaku S, Morris V, Raghavan D, Hosten C (2008) Seasonal variation of heavy metals in ambient air and precipitation at a single site in Washington, DC. Environ Pollut 155:88–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2007.10.038
Migliavacca D, Teixeira EC, Wiegand F et al (2005) Atmospheric precipitation and chemical composition of an urban site, Guaiba hydrographic basin, Brazil. Atmos Environ 39:1829–1844
Mishra M, Kulshrestha UC (2022) Wet deposition of total dissolved nitrogen in Indo-Gangetic Plain (India). Environ Sci Pollut Res 29:9282–9292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16293-0
Pan YP, Wang YS (2015) Atmospheric wet and dry deposition of trace elements at 10 sites in Northern China. Atmos Chem Phys 15:951–972
Pandolfi M, Amato F, Reche C et al (2012) Summer ammonia measurements in a densely populated Mediterranean city. Atmos Chem Phys 12:7557–7575
Rao PSP, Tiwari S, Matwale JL et al (2016) Sources of chemical species in rainwater during monsoon and non-monsoonal periods over two mega cities in India and dominant source region of secondary aerosols. Atmos Environ 146:90–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.06.069
Rivera-Rivera DM, Escobedo-Urías DC, Jonathan MP et al (2020) Evidence of natural and anthropogenic impacts on rainwater trace metal geochemistry in central Mexico: a statistical approach. Water 12:192
Rudnick RL, Gao S, Holland HD, Turekian KK (2003) Composition of the continental crust. The Crust 3:1–64
Schauer JJ, Lough GC, Shafer MM et al (2006) Characterization of metals emitted from motor vehicles. Res Rep Health Eff Inst 133:1–76
Seinfeld JH, Pandis SN (1998) Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics: From Air Pollution To Climate Change. Wiley, New york
Sharma A, Kulshrestha UC (2020) Wet deposition and long-range transport of major ions related to snow at Northwestern Himalayas (India). Aerosol Air Qual Res 20:1249–1265
Sharma A, Singh S, Kulshrestha UC (2018) Aerosol-trace gases interactions and their role in air quality control of Delhi city (India). Arab J Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-018-3695-z
Shrestha AB, Wake CP, Dibb JE, Whitlow SI (2002) Aerosol and precipitation chemistry at a remote Himalayan site in Nepal. Aerosol Sci Technol 36:441–456. https://doi.org/10.1080/027868202753571269
Singh S, Sharma A, Kumar B, Kulshrestha UC (2017) Wet deposition fluxes of atmospheric inorganic reactive nitrogen at an urban and rural site in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Atmos Pollut Res 8:669–677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2016.12.021
Tanner PA, Wong AYS (2000) Soluble trace metals and major ionic species in the bulk deposition and atmosphere of Hong Kong. Water Air Soil Pollut 122:261–279
Taylor SR, McLennan SM (1995) The geochemical evolution of the continental crust. Rev Geophys 33:241–265. https://doi.org/10.1029/95RG00262
Tiwari R, Kulshrestha U (2019) Wintertime distribution and atmospheric interactions of reactive nitrogen species along the urban transect of Delhi–NCR. Atmos Environ 209:40–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.04.007
Tiwari S, Hopke PK, Thimmaiah D et al (2016) Nature and sources of ionic species in precipitation across the indo-gangetic plains, India. Aerosol Air Qual Res 16:943–957. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2015.06.0423
Tripathee L, Guo J, Kang S et al (2020) Measurement of mercury, other trace elements and major ions in wet deposition at Jomsom: the semi-arid mountain valley of the Central Himalaya. Atmos Res 234:104691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2019.104691
Valenta P, Nguyen VD, Nornberg HW (1986) Acid and heavy metal pollution by wet deposition. Sci Total Environ 55:311–320
Vassura I, Venturini E, Marchetti S et al (2014) Markers and influence of open biomass burning on atmospheric particulate size and composition during a major bonfire event. Atmos Environ 82:218–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.10.037
Vet R, Artz RS, Carou S et al (2014) A global assessment of precipitation chemistry and deposition of sulfur, nitrogen, sea salt, base cations, organic acids, acidity and pH, and phosphorus. Atmos Environ 93:3–100
Ye L, Huang M, Zhong B et al (2018) Wet and dry deposition fluxes of heavy metals in Pearl River Delta Region (China): characteristics, ecological risk assessment, and source apportionment. J Environ Sci (china) 70:106–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jes.2017.11.019
Zhou Y, Zheng N, Luo L et al (2021) Biomass burning related ammonia emissions promoted a self-amplifying loop in the urban environment in Kunming (SW China). Atmos Environ 253:118138
Acknowledgements
Authors acknowledge Jawaharlal Nehru University for providing the infrastructure to carry out this study. We are extremely thankful for the financial support from UKRI GCRF South Asian Nitrogen Hub. This study is a part of DRS-Net (Deposition Research Network through students)-India.
Funding
Financial support from UKRI GCRF SANH is gratefully acknowledged for this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
AK contributed to sample collection, heavy metal analysis, data compilation, interpretation & visualization and writing of the manuscript. SY contributed to mercury analysis and writing. YS contributed to ion chromatography analysis. UK contributed to conceptualization, funding acquisition, review and editing of the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have duly acknowledged funding for the study. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to the publication of this article.
Ethical approval
Not applicable.
Consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Additional information
Editorial responsibility: U.W. Tang.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Katoch, A., Yadav, S., Singh, Y. et al. Wet scavenging of trace metals and reactive nitrogen in Delhi, India. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 21, 2897–2912 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-023-05097-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-023-05097-z