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Dust, Metals and Metalloids in the Environment: From Air to Hair

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Medical Geochemistry

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Abstract

Billions tons of particulate matter, made up of inorganic and organic compounds, are released every year into the atmosphere, from both anthropogenic and natural sources. The latter, which include geogenic material from erosion, agriculture, sea spray and volcanic activity, account for about 97% of the total mass of particles. The contribution of anthropogenic sources, about 3%, is more pronounced in industrialised and also in urban areas, where vehicular traffic is one of the most important sources. When examining the health impact, in addition to mass level and size, two other main characteristics of particulate matter need to be considered: its nature and chemical composition. These parameters appear intrinsically related to one another. Presence, abundance and behaviour of trace metals in air are also closely related to atmospheric particulate matter, as most metals in the lower atmosphere are present in association with particles. Most of these aspects are presented and discussed in this present chapter as only a better knowledge of atmospheric particulate matter, its composition, metal content and some implications on the human health, may aid to select correct actions and appropriate control strategies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dip. Scienze della Terra e del Mare (DiSTeM) Department, Università di Palermo, Via Archirafi, 36, 90123, Palermo, Italy

    Gaetano Dongarrà, E. Tamburo & D. Varrica

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  1. Gaetano Dongarrà
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  2. E. Tamburo
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  3. D. Varrica
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Correspondence to Gaetano Dongarrà .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 22, Palermo, 90123, Italy

    Paolo Censi

  2. , Environmental Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Morrissey Boulevard 100, Boston, 02139, USA

    Thomas Darrah

  3. , Inst. Earth Sci, The Hebrew University, Edmond Safra Campus, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel

    Yigal Erel

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Dongarrà, G., Tamburo, E., Varrica, D. (2013). Dust, Metals and Metalloids in the Environment: From Air to Hair. In: Censi, P., Darrah, T., Erel, Y. (eds) Medical Geochemistry. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4372-4_8

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