The Determination of Mass, Element and Black Carbon Concentrations in Harmattan Aerosol Samples Collected at Kwabenya, Ghana

Abstract

Aerosol particles were sampled between 27th December 2005 to 16th February 2006, using the Gent sampler and segregated into two size fractions – fine (PM2.5) and Coarse (PM10-2.5) from Kwabenya, near Accra. The aerosol particles were collected on Nuclepore polycarbonate mem-brane filters. The mass, Black Carbon (BC) and elemental concentrations in the two size frac-tions were determined using Gravimetric analysis, black smoke method and EDXRF analysis, respectively. The aerosol mass concentration was 8.57 μg/m3 for the fine fraction and 110.90 μg/m3 for the coarse fraction. The average Black carbon concentrations measured were 0.71 μg/m3 and 0.65 μg/m3 for the fine and coarse fractions, respectively. The results were compared with some literature values and the World Health Organisation Standard values. The high coarse to fine ratio suggest that most of the aerosol are from natural sources.