Use of beryllium-7 as a surrogate to determine the deposition of metal and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon through urban aerosols in Nantes, France

• We measured 7Be, metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban aerosols.
• 7Be has a unimodal distribution and is associated with submicron aerosols.
• The activity median aerodynamic diameter (AMAD) of 7Be varies from 0.50 to 0.59 μm.
• 7Be can be used as a surrogate to determine trace metal and PAHs deposition.
• Micropollutants have the same dry deposition velocity as 7Be.

The aerodynamic size distribution of the natural radionuclide beryllium-7 (7Be) and associated trace metals, pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Nantes (France) was determined during 6 campaigns (conducted from June 2010 to March 2012) using a low-pressure impactor. The activity distribution of 7Be, as measured by a gamma ray spectrometer, was associated with the accumulation mode (with around 85% of the mass < 1 μm) and explained by post condensation processes on the airborne particle. The mass size distribution of heavy metals and PAHs was mainly focused on the accumulation mode as well. Trace metals generally show a unimodal distribution, although bimodal distributions for Zn, Cu, As and Cr could also be observed; these were attributed to re-suspension processes. For PAHs, the size distribution remained unimodal with a mass median diameter (MMD) ranging from 0.31 to 0.68 μm, thus confirming the urban origin. Pesticide concentrations in the atmosphere were low and did not allow determining the size distribution. Given their identical aerodynamic distribution as 7Be, trace metals and PAHs are expected to display a similar dry deposition velocity, which will then allow us to calculate the dry deposition fluxes over this urban area.