Study of Chemical Composition in Wet Atmospheric Precipitation in Karachi, Pakistan

Saiyada Masood, Sumayya Saied, Azhar Siddique, Shaikh Mohiuddin, Mirza Hussain, Muhammad Khan, Haider Khwaja*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Anthropogenic and natural emissions in atmosphere directly affect the rainwater chemistry as its chemical speciation is representative of emission status in the surrounding area. A comprehensive study on the chemical composition of rainwater was carried out in Karachi, a mega-city of Southeast Asia to delineate the urbanization impact on the local environment. Rainwater samples were analyzed for conductivity, pH, HCO3, F, Cl, NO2, NO3, SO2−4, Na+, NH+4, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, HCOO, CH3 COO, C2O2−4, pyruvate, malonate, propionate, glyoxylate, and total organic carbon (TOC) levels. The ionic load in rainwater samples was found to be high in the densely populated sampling sites experiencing heavy traffic activity and located adjacent to industrial zones. Na+ was the most dominant ionic species, followed by 2−, SO4 Ca2+, Cl−, HCO3, K+, NH+4, Mg2+, NO3, CH3 COO and HCOO in sequence. HCOO and CH3 COO were found to be the predominant carboxylic acids and their mean concentrations were 4.9 ± 7.3 and 9.4 ± 16.0 µeq/L, respectively. These organic acids together contributed with 7% to the TOC in precipitation. Source apportionment of the contaminants was accomplished by statistical techniques, which indicated strong impact of anthropogenic pollution on the rainwater chemistry in Karachi.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Science, Technology and Innovation
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages75-78
Number of pages4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Publication series

NameAdvances in Science, Technology and Innovation
ISSN (Print)2522-8714
ISSN (Electronic)2522-8722

Keywords

  • Anthropogenic pollution
  • Karachi
  • Organic acids
  • Rainwater
  • Sources

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