Mass, black carbon and elemental composition of PM_2.5 at an industrial site in Kingston, Jamaica

An estimated three million premature deaths yearly can be attributed to ambient particulate pollution, a majority of them in low and middle income countries. The rapid increase in the vehicle fleet in urban areas of the Caribbean countries have experienced contributes to the bad urban air quality. In this study aerosol particles with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than, or equal to, 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) were collected over 24 h at a site along Spanish Town Road, one of the main commuter roads in Kingston, Jamaica. The study was aimed at determining the mass, black carbon and elemental composition of PM_2.5 in Kingston. Although lead in the gasoline was phased out in the year 2000, up to 5000 ppm of sulfur is still allowed in the diesel, leading to an extensive secondary particle formation. PM_2.5 samples were collected using a Mini-vol sampler between 12 December 2013 and 21 March 2014 and analyzed for trace elements using the Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) facility at Lund University, Sweden. Concentrations of Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Br and Pb were determined. Elemental concentrations showed a high temporal variation and the average PM_2.5 concentration (44 μg m⁻³) is higher than the air quality standards that apply in the European Union (25 μg m⁻³) and in the USA (12 μg m⁻³). From this we can conclude that the air quality in the area is severely influenced by PM_2.5 pollution and that there is a need to develop plans for improving the air quality in Kingston city.