| This study was performed to investigate the concentration and the health risk of metal(loid)s, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Water-soluble ions in PM10 during cold and warm seasons in two different
stations, rural and an urban area at Tehran. The characterization of the metal(loid)s, PAHs and Water-soluble
ions associated to the PM10 were carried out by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICPOES), gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and ion chromatography (IC), respectively. The
average concentrations of ambient PM10 on cold and warm seasons were 79.6 and 67.9 μg/m3 in urban area and
57.3 and 58.8 μg/m3 in rural area, respectively. The elements from crustal source (Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Al, Si, Fe
and Ti) were the major compositions for PM10 in warm season, and NO3 and SO42− were major component of
PM10 in cold season at both sites. The mean concentrations of total PAHs were found to be 103.8 ± 81.2 and
67.1 ± 28.1 ng/m3 on cold and warm seasons for the urban area, and 31.85 ± 18.91 and 26.61 ± 15.72 ng/
m3 in cold and warm seasons for the rural area, were indicative of the signifcance of mobile sources in Tehran.
Results from this study indicate that for both sites, the carcinogenic risk caused by inhalation pathway PM10-
bound PAHs exceeded the acceptable level of world health organization safe limits, indicating the need for more
investigation to reducing potential carcinogenic risk. |