Preferential concentration of certain elements in smaller aerosols emitted from aircraft engines

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Abstract
Aerosols from aircraft engines were collected with an Andersen eight-stage cascade sampler for a period of 24 h. The aerosol samples from each stage were analyzed for their elemental composition using the proton-induced x-ray emission (PIXE) technique. Seventeen elements (Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Br, Sr, Nb, Sn, and Pb) were positively identified and quantitated at each stage. Six elements (S, Ca, Fe, Zn, Sn, and Pb) showed fractional concentration increase with the decreasing aerosol size. Similar, but less well-defined, trends were also observed for V and Ni. Silicon and chlorine, on the other hand, showed an opposite trend. Neutron activation analysis of bulk aerosol samples collected every 2 h over the same period showed correlation of concentration of Si, Ca, V, Ti, Zn, Br, and Sn with the density of air traffic at the airport. Analysis of the aviation fuel samples by PIXE indicates that major fractions of Pb, Sn, Br, Zn, Ni, Fe, V, Ca, and S observed in these aerosol studies come from the aircraft engine exhaust.