Distribution Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of Antimony in Atmospheric Particulates in a Northern City of China

Over the last several decades, scientists have established a wealth of evidence to demonstrate the risks posed to human health by toxic elements in atmospheric particulate matter(PM). Antimony(Sb), as one of ever ignored PM-bound heavy metals, attracts more and more attentions and has been regarded as one emerging air pollutant with the change of pollution sources of particulate matter. To study the distribution of Sb in PM with different particle sizes is of great practical significance for understanding its source and health risks. In this study, the size distributions of Sb in PM(PM 2.5 , PM 10 and TSP) in different seasons were studied from July 2018 to May 2019. The high concentration of PM-bound Sb was found and the health risk was evaluated. Sb was enriched in fine particles and showed higher values in winter, which was probably caused by coal combustion and meteorological conditions. It was also found that traffic-related non-exhaust emissions might become another main contribution to fine particle Sb. Health risk assessment demonstrated that the hazard quotient (HQ) of Sb in PM 2.5 and PM 10 for children(PM 2.5 : 1.54, PM 10 : 1.32) exceeded the acceptable threshold and ingestion contributed the most to the HQ for both children and adults.