Abstract
Anthropogenic and natural emissions in atmosphere directly affect the rainwater chemistry as its chemical speciation is representative of emission status in the surrounding area. A comprehensive study on the chemical composition of rainwater was carried out in Karachi, a mega-city of Southeast Asia to delineate the urbanization impact on the local environment. Rainwater samples were analyzed for conductivity, pH, HCO3−, F−, Cl−, NO2−, NO3−, SO42−, Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, HCOO−, CH3COO−, C2O42−, pyruvate, malonate, propionate, glyoxylate, and total organic carbon (TOC) levels. The ionic load in rainwater samples was found to be high in the densely populated sampling sites experiencing heavy traffic activity and located adjacent to industrial zones. Na+ was the most dominant ionic species, followed by SO2−,4 Ca2+, Cl−, HCO3−, K+, NH4+, Mg2+, NO3−, CH3COO− and HCOO− in sequence. HCOO− and CH3COO− were found to be the predominant carboxylic acids and their mean concentrations were 4.9 ± 7.3 and 9.4 ± 16.0 µeq/L, respectively. These organic acids together contributed with 7% to the TOC in precipitation. Source apportionment of the contaminants was accomplished by statistical techniques, which indicated strong impact of anthropogenic pollution on the rainwater chemistry in Karachi.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Tsakovski, S.L., Simeonov, V.D.: Chemometric study of atmospheric wet and dry precipitates from an urban region. Toxicol. Environ. Chem. 65(1–4), 203–216 (1998)
Al-Khashman, O.A.: Ionic composition of wet precipitation in the Petra Region, Jordan. Atmos. Res. 78, 1–12 (2005)
Báez, A., Belmont, R., García, R., Padilla, H., Torres, M.C.: Chemical composition of rainwater collected at a southwest site of Mexico City, Mexico. Atmos. Res. 86(1), 61–75 (2007)
Kulshrestha, U., Kulshrestha, M.J., Sekar, R., Sastry, G., Vairamani, M.: Chemical characteristics of rainwater at an urban site of South-Central India. Atmos. Environ. 37(21), 3019–3026 (2003)
Senthilnathan, T.: Measurements of urban ambient air quality of Chennai city. Indian J. Air Pollut. Control 8(1), 35–47 (2008)
Al-Khashman, O.A.: Chemical characteristics of rainwater collected at western site of Jordan. Atmos. Res. 91, 53–61 (2009)
Galloway, J.N., Likens, G.E.: Calibration of collection procedures for the determination of precipitation chemistry. Water Air Soil Pollut. 6(2–4), 241–258 (1976)
Munger, J.W., Eisenreich, S.J.: Continental-scale variations in precipitation chemistry: ion concentrations are dominated by land use and proximity to man-made emissions. Environ. Sci. Technol. 17(1), 32–42 (1983)
Smirnioudi, V., Siskos, P.: Chemical composition of wet and dust deposition in Athens, Greece. Atmos. Environ. Part B. Urban Atmos. 26(4), 483–490 (1992)
Downing, C., Vincent, K., Campbell, G., Fowler, D., Smith, R.: Trends in wet and dry deposition of sulphur in the United Kingdom. Water Air Soil Pollut. 85(2), 659–664 (1995)
Nilles, M.A., Conley, B.E.: Changes in the chemistry of precipitation in the United States, 1981–1998. Water Air Soil Pollut. 130(1–4), 409–414 (2001)
Ito, M., Mitchell, M.J., Driscoll, C.T.: Spatial patterns of precipitation quantity and chemistry and air temperature in the Adirondack region of New York. Atmos. Environ. 36(6), 1051–1062 (2002)
Hontoria, C., Saa, A., Almorox, J., Cuadra, L., Sánchez, A., Gascó, J.M.: The chemical composition of precipitation in Madrid. Water Air Soil Pollut. 146(1–4), 35–54 (2003)
Menz, F.C., Seip, H.M.: Acid rain in Europe and the United States: an update. Environ. Sci. Policy 7(4), 253–265 (2004)
Celle-Jeanton, H., Travi, Y., Loÿe-Pilot, M.-D., Huneau, F., Bertrand, G.: Rainwater chemistry at a Mediterranean inland station (Avignon, France): local contribution versus long-range supply. Atmos. Res. 91(1), 118–126 (2009)
Parekh, P.P., Khwaja, H.A., Khan, A.R., Naqvi, R.R., Malik, A., Shah, S.A., Khan, K., Hussain, G.: Ambient air quality of two metropolitan cities of Pakistan and its health implications. Atmos. Environ. 35(34), 5971–5978 (2001)
Biswas, K.F., Ghauri, B.M., Husain, L.: Gaseous and aerosol pollutants during fog and clear episodes in South Asian urban atmosphere. Atmos. Environ. 42(33), 7775–7785 (2008)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Masood, S. et al. (2019). Study of Chemical Composition in Wet Atmospheric Precipitation in Karachi, Pakistan. In: Kallel, A., et al. Recent Advances in Geo-Environmental Engineering, Geomechanics and Geotechnics, and Geohazards. CAJG 2018. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01665-4_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01665-4_18
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-01664-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-01665-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)