Element composition of solid airborne particles deposited in snow in the vicinity of gas-fired heating plant

Abstract

Local heating plants are the main pollution source of rural areas. Currently, there are few studies on the composition of local heating plants emissions. The article deals with the research results of air pollution level with solid airborne particles in the vicinity of local gas-fired heating plants of some districts of Tomsk region. The snow sampling was conducted for the purpose of solid airborne particles extraction from snow cover. The content of 28 chemical elements (heavy metals, rare earth and radioactive elements, aurum, argentum, bromine) in the samples was detected using instrumental neutron activation analysis. The mercury content was determined by the flameless atomic absorption. The results have shown that the dust load value corresponds to low pollution level and 3,5 times exceeds the background value. It was detected, the content of studied elements exceeds the baseline data, and level of pollution with these elements corresponds to the average pollution level. It is suggested, the income of solid airborne particles containing these elements is connected both with emission of gas-fired heating plant, and local and trans-border sources.