Elemental Composition and Concentration of Atmospheric Particulate Matter in Kuwait (original) (raw)

Hourly PM 10 and PM 2.5 samples were simultaneously collected at 10 and 3 urban sites, respectively in Kuwait from March 2014 to February 2015, to study the air quality and heavy metals content and Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs) in PM 10 samples. The annual average concentrations of PM 10 and PM 2.5 were 152 and 97.3 µg/m 3 , respectively, with an average PM 2.5 /PM 10 ratio of 70%. The contamination level of heavy metals in PM 10 samples was assessed in terms of Enrichment Factor (EF) using mathematical models. The elements associated with an anthropogenic activity in the PM 10 samples; i.e., Pb, Cu, Co, Cd and Zn, were 2.4, 12.9, 14.6, 42.6 and 156.2 times higher than the corresponding background values in Kuwait soil. TPH was the dominant pollutant in the PM 10 samples. In general, most daily average Air Quality Indices (AQI) of PM 10 concentrations fell under the categories of "good" and "moderate".