Distribution of platinum group elements in road dust in the Beijing metropolitan area, China

Dust samples collected from the Beijing metropolitan area (China) were evaluated to determine the distribution and the concentration of platinum group elements (PGEs). The dust particles that were smaller than 100 mesh size fraction (150 μm) were analyzed after aqua regia digestion. Concentrations of Pt, Rh, and Pd were found to be between 3.96 and 356.3 ng/g, 2.76 and 97.11 ng/g, and 0.1 and 124.9 ng/g, respectively, in the urban areas of Beijing, whereas for the background samples collected from the suburbs of Beijing, the concentrations of Pt, Pd, and Rh were very low and ranged from 0.1 to 0.9 ng/g, 0.5 to 1.4 ng/g, and 0.8 to 2.2 ng/g, respectively. The distributions of PGEs in road dust were an accurate reflection of the levels of pollution and were found to match with the local traffic conditions. A strong positive correlation was established among all the elements found in road dust. This suggests that emissions of abraded fragments from vehicle exhausts may be the source of the high concentration of Pt, Rh, and Pd in road dust along the main roads of Beijing.