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Deposition of absolute and relative airborne metals on eggshells: a field study

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Abstract

A biomonitoring field study was conducted to test the deposition of airborne metals on chicken eggshell. The goal was to correlate PM2.5 particle concentration in air, absolute (metals in air) and relative (metals in PM2.5 particles) metals, and metal accumulation on eggshell. The PM2.5 sample was collected for 8 h at different air pollution sites as well as an unpolluted site with glass fiber filters via a fine particulate sampler (with and without addition of eggshell). The PM2.5 particle concentration was high at a cement factory site and low at a sugar factory site. The highest absolute total mass of metal (total mass of all metals in air) was found in the traffic site, and the highest relative total mass of metal (total mass of all metals in PM2.5 particles) was found at the tannery factory. The accumulation of Zn and Pb in eggshell was high at the tannery and sugar factory sites, and Fe was high in the other areas. Three common metals including Cd, As, and Pb were found with significant positive correlation between absolute and relative metals with the metals accumulated in eggshell. The results concluded that the eggshells might be useful tools for monitoring the airborne metals.

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Funding

This work was supported by a 2-year grant of Pusan National University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Bioremediation and Toxicology, Department of Bioenvironmental Energy, College of Natural Resources and Life Science, Pusan National University, Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do, 50463, Republic of Korea

    Sivakumar Subpiramaniyam

  2. Laboratory of Molecular Bioremediation and Nanobiotechnology, Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, 620 024, India

    Thamaraiselvi Kaliannan & Prakash Piruthiviraj

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  1. Sivakumar Subpiramaniyam
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  2. Thamaraiselvi Kaliannan
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  3. Prakash Piruthiviraj
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Correspondence to Sivakumar Subpiramaniyam.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Subpiramaniyam, S., Kaliannan, T. & Piruthiviraj, P. Deposition of absolute and relative airborne metals on eggshells: a field study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 2313–2319 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0679-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0679-6

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