Temporal variations and sources of Eastern Mediterranean aerosols based on a 9-year observation

► Aerosols analyzed in terms of 48 elements, 4 ions and BC between 1993 and 2001. ► Decreasing trend was detected for crustal and rare earth elements. ► Decreasing trend was detected for some pollution derived elements (e.g., Pb, Se, As). ► PMF identified five factors affecting the chemical composition of the aerosols. ► North Africa is the major source contributing to dust factor resolved by PMF.