Voltammetric determinations of platinum and rhodium in particulate of Palermo (Italy) area

Abstract

Traffic has an important impact on the air quality which affects both the environmental and human health. Since the introduction of PGE-containing catalytic converters, a number studies have been undertaken to determine the effects of PGE emissions on human and to environment. This requires the development of good analytic methods to measure Pt and Rh concentrations in environmental matrices, as well to estimate background concentrations. In this paper are presented the results concerning Pt and Rh concentrations in PM10 samples collected at five stations within the urban area of Palermo. The highest mean values (Pt= 13 pg/m3, Rh=9.8 pg/m3) were recorded at an urban station, and the lowest (Pt = 1.2 pg/m3, Rh = 0.5 pg/m3) at a station considered as background. Considering that analita, in an urban area are emitted only by auto vehicular traffic and considering that concentrations of analita are not correlated with the level of particulate we can deduce that only a fraction of particulate can be attributed exclusively to vehicle traffic. This conclusion is very important because, in Italy and in other country, often the use of cars in urban areas is prohibited when particulate concentrations exceed a certain threshold and therefore would need to use other indicators of pollution from traffic to formulate decisions on the limitation in the use of private cars.