Characterisation of atmospheric deposited particles during a dust storm in urban areas of Eastern Australia

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2013-09, Vol.461-462, p.72-80
• Main Authors: Gunawardena, Janaka, Ziyath, Abdul M., Bostrom, Thor E., Bekessy, Lambert K., Ayoko, Godwin A., Egodawatta, Prasanna, Goonetilleke, Ashantha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atmosphere - analysis; Atmospheric deposition; back trajectory analysis; Carbon - analysis; Chromatography, Gas; Cities; Dust - analysis; dust storm; Ecosystem; ecosystem health; Environmental Monitoring - statistics & numerical data; Lake Eyre; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Particle Size; Particulate Matter - analysis; Queensland; Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; stormwater quality; Wind
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.04.080

The characteristics of dust particles deposited during the 2009 dust storm in the Gold Coast and Brisbane regions of Australia are discussed in this paper. The study outcomes provide important knowledge in relation to the potential impacts of dust storm related pollution on ecosystem health in the context that the frequency of dust storms is predicted to increase due to anthropogenic desert surface modifications and climate change impacts. The investigated dust storm contributed a large fraction of fine particles to the environment with an increased amount of total suspended solids, compared to dry deposition under ambient conditions. Although the dust storm passed over forested areas, the organic carbon content in the dust was relatively low. The primary metals present in the dust storm deposition were aluminium, iron and manganese, which are common soil minerals in Australia. The dust storm deposition did not contain significant loads of nickel, cadmium, copper and lead, which are commonly present in the urban environment. Furthermore, the comparison between the ambient and dust storm chromium and zinc loads suggested that these metals were contributed to the dust storm by local anthropogenic sources. The potential ecosystem health impacts of the 2009 dust storm include, increased fine solids deposition on ground surfaces resulting in an enhanced capacity to adsorb toxic pollutants as well as increased aluminium, iron and manganese loads. In contrast, the ecosystem health impacts related to organic carbon and other metals from dust storm atmospheric deposition are not considered to be significant. •The dust storm contributed a large fraction of fine particles to pollutant build-up.•The dust storm increased TSS, Al, Fe and Mn loads in build-up on ground surfaces.•Dust storm did not significantly increase TOC, Ni, Cu, Pb and Cd loads in build-up.•Cr and Zn in dust storm deposition were contributed by local anthropogenic sources.