Effects of organic compounds with the concentration of heavy metals on the atmosphere of Faisalabad
Keywords:
Solid aerosol,, atmospheric pollution,, Bismuth salicylate,, potassium phenoxide, Sodium-GAnaphthylamine-4-sulfonate tetrahydrate, Cadmium salicylate hydrate as major pollutants,, remote and local origin, co-relationship,, health hazards,, predicted equations,, sociological survey,, protective measures.Abstract
Faisalabad is the biggest industrial city with huge air quality problems, being one of the most polluted cities
in the world. Although public policies have been developed to minimize atmospheric aerosol pollution, there
is lack of adequate knowledge and poor characterization of these aerosols. In this study, 18 (15+2+1)
aerosol samples were sampled from different pools covering almost all the aspects of Faisalabad
environment. The aerosol samples were collected using air volume sampler on Watmann filter paper for the
period of 24 h per day. The results obtained from an investigation of solid aerosols in the industrial city of
Faisalabad (Pakistan) are reported and analysed in this paper. X-ray diffraction studies of the various solid
aerosols pools (residential, industrial, transportational, commercial and mix pools) showed that non-clay
organic compounds such as GB-Naphthylbismuthdioxide, Sodiumhippurate, Sodium-GA-naphthylamine-4-
sulfonate tetrahydrate, Potassium phenoxide, Bismuth salicylate, Cadmium salicylate hydrate and
Bariumphenolsulfonate are contained in most of the samples in almost comparable amounts. The results of
solid aerosols collected from various pools showed that the sources of identified phases in the solid
aerosols are both local and remote. The maximum elemental constituents and concentration for Zn, Cu, Cr,
Ni, Pb, Mg and Cd in ppm using AAS technique were found to be Cadmium Cd(1) having weight percentage
of 15.215%, Chromium Cr(2) having weight percentage of 0.093%, Nickel Ni(3) having weight percentage of
4.192%, Lead Pb(4) having weight percentage of 5.301%, Zinc Zn(5) having weight percentage of 14.663%,
Magnesium Mg(6) having weight percentage of 8.154% and Calcium Ca(7) having weight percentage of
52.382% respectively. The comparison of results reported in literature with the obtained results showed
some differences in concentrations which could be explained on the basis of climatological and
meteorological set up of different pools under investigations. Furthermore, the health hazards due to
identified trace metals were also investigated and were found that the metals were highly toxic and
generating serious health hazards.
