| 01 Apr 2025
Measurement Report: Seasonal trends and chemical speciation of chromium (III/VI) in different fractions of urban particulate matter – a case study of Radom, Poland
Abstract. The paper assesses chromium occurrence in urban particulate matter: PM10, PM2.5, PM1, and PM0.25 over a calendar year is presented. The seasonality of both pseudo-total chromium content and its valence speciation are studied. The pseudo-total chromium concentration (Crtot) was assayed with GF-AAS and of Cr(VI) with CCSV-DTPA techniques. Crtot concentrations in the particulate matter fractions investigated ranged from 0.08 to 4.09 ng/m3. The results point to a seasonality of Crtot concentration changes in particulate matter. The concentration was maximum in winter (2.23±0.53 ng/m3 on average), while Crtot in PM10 averaged 1.71±0.83 ng/m3 in the whole measurement period. The average Cr(VI) concentration does not exceed 0.40 ng/m3 and was maximum in winter, too (max. 1.354 ng/m3). The Cr(VI) share in PM in the particular seasons varied a lot. It was minimum in summer (9.1 % of Crtot) and maximum in winter (40 % of Crtot). The carcinogenic risk for the urban residents based on the Cr(VI) concentration in PM10 was within the acceptable range (between 1·10−6 and 1·10−4) and amounted to between 1.11·10-6 and 5.78·10-6 for children and from 3.69·10-6 to 1.92·10-5 for adults. The non-carcinogenic health risk caused by the presence of Crtot was acceptable as well. The HQ values for both adults and children were lower than the safe level of 1 and ranged from 1.57·10-2 to 3.92·10-2.
