Spatial and temporal distribution of metals in PM2.5 during 2013: assessment of wind patterns to the impacts of geogenic and anthropogenic sources

The Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) was the object of a chemical elemental characterization (Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sb, Pb, La, Sm, Ce, and Eu) of PM 2.5 collected during 2013 and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Sampling campaigns were carried out at five locations simultaneously—northwest, northeast, center, southwest, and southeast—during dry-warm season (April), rainy season (August), and dry-cold season (November). By means of enrichment factor (EF) and principal component analysis (PCA), it was possible to attribute the analyzed elements to geogenic and anthropogenic sources, as well as to identify a group of elements with mixed provenance sources. The highest concentrations for most metals were found in northwest and northeast, and during dry-warm (DW), confirming the trend observed in PM 2.5 samples collected in 2011. Despite similarities between 2011 and 2013, an increase of 17% in PM 2.5 mass concentration was observed, mainly attributable to geogenic sources, whereby the importance of wind intensity to the impact of emission sources is highlighted. The effect of wind intensity was revealed, by means of polar plots, as the controlling mechanism for this increase. This allowed us to conclude that high-speed episodes (5 m s −1 ) were responsible for raising geogenic metal concentrations rather than wind direction.