Analysis of PM 10 , Pb, Cd, and Ni atmospheric concentrations during domestic heating season in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 2010 to 2019

This paper examines atmospheric concentrations of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 10 μm (PM 10 ) and related particle-phase toxic heavy metals Cd, Ni, and Pb during domestic heating seasons from 2010 to 2019 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In total, 242 daily PM 10 samples were collected using medium and high volume air samplers. The mean daily PM 10 mass concentration for all measurements is 75.16 μg/m 3 (with the range of 28.77–149.00 μg/m 3 ). Variation of ambient PM 10 was observed throughout the study in different years. Hourly values for PM 10 measurements during two heating seasons are also presented. Metal concentrations in PM 10 were analyzed by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). Quantities of atmospheric mass concentrations of studied trace metals were observed in the following order: Pb > Ni > Cd. The mean concentrations of metals varied with Pb showing the highest concentration (ranging from 1.38 to 234.00 ng/m 3 ), Ni ranging from 0.87 to 42.43 ng/m 3 , and Cd showing the lowest concentration ranging from 0.26 to 10.09 ng/m 3 . The concentration of Pb and Cd in PM 10 was strongly correlated, suggesting a common source or dependence of these metals in PM 10 in Sarajevo. Bioaccessibility of metals in the synthetic gastric juice was also estimated. The quantities of average bioaccessible metal fractions in PM 10 samples showed the following trend: Cd > Pb > Ni. The health risk assessment shows that the population of Sarajevo is at increased lifetime risk of experiencing cancer because of exposure to these Cd concentrations in PM 10 . In addition, parallel PM 10 sampling on two samplers showed that obtained results are highly comparable.