TITLE:
Study of Trace Ions in Wet Deposition of an Industrial Site in Monterrey’s Metropolitan Area, Mexico
AUTHORS:
Evangelina Ramírez-Lara, Rosa María Cerón-Bretón, Julia Griselda Cerón-Bretón, Ulrico López-Chuken, Jonathan Kahl
KEYWORDS:
Wet Deposition, Air Quality, Monterrey, Air Pollution
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.6 No.1,
January
14,
2016
ABSTRACT: The chemistry
of rainwater has been subject to numerous investigations during the last two
decades due to the increase of environmental problems caused by the acid
deposition. The present study focuses on one aspect of air pollution, the
chemical composition of wet deposition of an industrial zone. The sampling
period was from March to December 2009. The station was located on the roof of
the Chemistry School at the University of Nuevo León, an area in the north of
Monterrey where the majority of pollution is generated. Twenty-five wet
precipitation samples were collected with an automatic sampler and analyzed for
pH, ions (, , Cl-, Ca2+,
Mg2+, Na+, K+) and conductivity. The results
show that the average pH is higher than 5.6; the characteristics of the
rainwater studied are of alkaline nature due to the values of pH found; there
is an evident anthropogenic source contributing to the alkaline of rain water.
In order to find possible association between ions and consequently the
possible sources of pollutants correlation study was applied using the program
SPSS v.12. Good correlations were found between ions and along with Ca2+ and Mg2+.
The local extraction industry and surrounding aerosols might be causing of
alkaline rain which may be due to the neutralization effect of particulate
matter. This study represents a continuation of the studies of rainwater
chemistry in the Northeast of Mexico.