TY - JOUR

T1 - Rare earth elements in surface specific urban runoff in Northern Beijing

AU - Shajib, Md Tariqul Islam

AU - Hansen, Hans Christian Bruun

AU - Liang, Tao

AU - Holm, Peter Engelund

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Rare earth elements (REEs) have been increasingly diffused to the environment through mining activities and theextensive use in modern commodities, vehicular activities, coal burning and various environmental and agricultural applications. Studies of REEs in urban environments are limited with no data on REEs in urban runoff. To investigate the concentration and distribution of REEs, a total of 150 runoff samples were collected from trafficked areas, rooftops and residential parking lots in a moderate to densely populated area in Beijing, China. The runoff samples were separated into dissolved and particulate phases and analyzed by ICP-MS. The REEs were mainly (N80%) found in the runoff particulate material. The sum of REEs (Sigma REE) total concentrations in urban stormwater runoff samples ranged from 0.16 to 185 mu g/l. The observed mean total concentration of SREE in the runoff samples were 3-14 folds higher and dissolved fractions 1.5 to 6 times higher than published concentrations for recipients such as sewage channels and rivers. The distribution of REEs in runoff was dominated by light REE. Cluster analysis and Pearson's correlations revealed a strong association between the individual REEs pointing to a similar source. Higher Ce concentrations compared to other REEs indicated strong influence from traffic emission particulates. The La/Sm (5.90-8.05), La/Ce (0.53-0.58) and Ce/Yb (31.0-42.7) ratios pointed to REE sources from traffic emissions and coal burning thus defining an urban fingerprint. (c) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

AB - Rare earth elements (REEs) have been increasingly diffused to the environment through mining activities and theextensive use in modern commodities, vehicular activities, coal burning and various environmental and agricultural applications. Studies of REEs in urban environments are limited with no data on REEs in urban runoff. To investigate the concentration and distribution of REEs, a total of 150 runoff samples were collected from trafficked areas, rooftops and residential parking lots in a moderate to densely populated area in Beijing, China. The runoff samples were separated into dissolved and particulate phases and analyzed by ICP-MS. The REEs were mainly (N80%) found in the runoff particulate material. The sum of REEs (Sigma REE) total concentrations in urban stormwater runoff samples ranged from 0.16 to 185 mu g/l. The observed mean total concentration of SREE in the runoff samples were 3-14 folds higher and dissolved fractions 1.5 to 6 times higher than published concentrations for recipients such as sewage channels and rivers. The distribution of REEs in runoff was dominated by light REE. Cluster analysis and Pearson's correlations revealed a strong association between the individual REEs pointing to a similar source. Higher Ce concentrations compared to other REEs indicated strong influence from traffic emission particulates. The La/Sm (5.90-8.05), La/Ce (0.53-0.58) and Ce/Yb (31.0-42.7) ratios pointed to REE sources from traffic emissions and coal burning thus defining an urban fingerprint. (c) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

KW - Particulate REE

KW - Urban fingerprint

KW - LREE Source of REE

KW - Rain events

KW - Cerium

KW - PARTICULATE MATTER

KW - GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS

KW - MINING AREAS

KW - HEAVY-METALS

KW - SOIL

KW - TOXICITY

KW - WATER

KW - FRACTIONATION

KW - ACCUMULATION

KW - COMPONENTS

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136969

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136969

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 32062247

VL - 717

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

SN - 0048-9697

M1 - 136969

ER -