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Urban and suburban aerosol in Yokohama, Japan: a comprehensive chemical characterization

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Abstract

This article analyses elemental composition of suspended particulate matter (SPM) samples collected monthly from 1999 to 2005 at two locations in Yokohama, Japan. Microwave digestion and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy was employed to measure Mg, Al, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Ag, Cd, Cs, Ba, Pb, and Bi. Water-soluble ions (Na + , NH4  + , K + , Ca2 + , Cl − , NO3  − , and SO4 2 − ) and carbonaceous mass (elemental and organic carbon) were detected using ion chromatograph and CHN analyzer, respectively. The results indicate that the composition of SPM on one of the sites is determined by automobile emissions and on the other by industrial combustions. The impact of the emission regulations for automobiles in large Japanese cities, which were enacted during 2002 and 2003, on the SPM composition of the samples is also studied.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Environment & Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, 79-7, Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, 240-8501, Japan

    Md. Firoz Khan & Shigeki Masunaga

  2. Yokohama City Research Institute for Environmental Science, 1-2-5, Takigashira, Isogo-ku, Yokohama, 235-0012, Japan

    Yuichiro Shirasuna & Koichiro Hirano

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  1. Md. Firoz Khan
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  2. Yuichiro Shirasuna
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  3. Koichiro Hirano
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  4. Shigeki Masunaga
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Correspondence to Md. Firoz Khan.

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Khan, M.F., Shirasuna, Y., Hirano, K. et al. Urban and suburban aerosol in Yokohama, Japan: a comprehensive chemical characterization. Environ Monit Assess 171, 441–456 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-1290-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-1290-1

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