Long-range transport of fluoride in East Asia monitored at Noto Peninsula, Japan

Airborne particulate matter was collected at Wajima, the Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa, Japan by a high-volume air sampler with a quartz fiber filter every week from September 17, 2004 to September 16, 2005. The filter was newly changed every week. There are no major emission sources of atmospheric pollutants near the sampling site. Water-soluble fluoride anion extracted from the filters was analyzed by ion chromatography. The concentration of non-sea-salt fluoride was higher during the heating period of China (from October 15, 2004 to April 15, 2005), significantly higher during the period of Asian Dust (from the mid of April to the beginning of May in 2005), than that in the other seasons. This result suggests that the main contributor of fluoride in the period of Asian Dust was high-fluoride-concentrated soil from the arid area of China. A noticeable positive correlation (r = 0.54, n = 28, p < 0.01) between the level of non-sea-salt fluoride and PAHs was observed, when only the data obtained during the period of Asian Dust was excluded. In view of the fact that PAHs emitted from Northeast China were long-range transported to Japan during the heating period of China, fluoride emitted from coal combustion long-range transported from the Asian continent to Japan during the same period appears to be another main source of fluoride.