Evaluación de metales pesados en partículas totales en suspensión en los alrededores de la Universidad Santiago de Cali

Abstract

Air pollution related to inhalable PM10 particles poses an environmental problem due to the possible effects on health and wellbeing in the population, which these pollutants can generate. Among the substances that are part of the components of PM10, heavy metals stand out; particles that alone can cause a variety of alterations on health and the environment. The uncertainty about the true levels of these metals in the atmosphere makes it necessary to evaluate their concentration at atmospheric level and identify if they comply with the regulations on air quality in force at the study site. In this research project, four heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cu, Cr) were analyzed with a high probability of being presented in environmental samples collected from four points of the Santiago de Cali University. To achieve this, the samples were subject to acid digestion processes and analyzed using the atomic absorption spectrophotometry method, determining their concentration and comparing the results with current regulations. The results show compliance with the regulations for the permissible contamination limits related to the concentrations of two of the four metals selected for the Cu and Cr study. Cadmium and Lead on the other hand, fails to identify reliably, the values resulting from the analysis are too small to be adequately detected by the characterization method used for this investigation. However, the results are conclusive regarding the presence of these metals in the medium. The presence of chromium and copper in the environment is directly related to the physical characteristics of the study area, such as the high vehicular flow on nearby roads and to the meteorological behavior during the days of Sharom Andrea López Morales. [(2019)] collection. It is considered advisable that the city surveillance system presents disaggregated data for certain predominant metals in the air in order to identify problem foci within the daily monitoring of total suspended particles (PM10 and PM2.5).