Chemical composition of rainwater collected from 2006 to 2009 in Mexico City and at a rural site at Morelos State, south central Mexico

The objective of the study was to evaluate the chemical composition of rainwater in urban and suburban areas of central Mexico to identify the possible sources of rainwater contamination. The rainwater was collected at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Campus Ciudad Universitaria (CU), in th...

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Main Authors: Rocío García-Martínez, Alejandro Carrillo-Chavez, Ricardo Torres-Jardón, Alejandro Ramirez-Guzmán, Moisés López-Carrasco
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 2020-03-01
Series:Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas
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Online Access:https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/1101
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author Rocío García-Martínez
Alejandro Carrillo-Chavez
Ricardo Torres-Jardón
Alejandro Ramirez-Guzmán
Moisés López-Carrasco
author_facet Rocío García-Martínez
Alejandro Carrillo-Chavez
Ricardo Torres-Jardón
Alejandro Ramirez-Guzmán
Moisés López-Carrasco
author_sort Rocío García-Martínez
collection DOAJ
description The objective of the study was to evaluate the chemical composition of rainwater in urban and suburban areas of central Mexico to identify the possible sources of rainwater contamination. The rainwater was collected at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Campus Ciudad Universitaria (CU), in the southern part of Mexico City at 2200 meters above sea level (m a.s.l.). CU has many green areas with high to moderate traffic densities where air quality presents serious problems of pollution by particulate matter. The other sampling site is a forested rural area (Tlalnepantla), State of Morelos, Mexico, a suburban area 86 km to the south of Mexico City. A total of 145 rainwater samples were collected in the rain period from 2006 to 2009. The ions analyzed were the following: SO42-, NO3-, Cl-, HCO3-, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, NH4+ and H+. Ammonium was the most abundant cation in both sites and is one of those responsible for the neutralization of acidic compounds in the atmosphere. The relative abundance of the inorganic anions present in the rainwater was in the following order: SO42- > NO3- > Cl-, for the alkaline metals the order was Ca2+ >Mg2+ > Na+ > K+ and Ca2+ >Mg2+ >K+ >Na+ for CU and Morelos, respectively. A correlation analysis shows a strong positive correlation among the ions, indicating that the most important source was anthropogenic. Air mass back trajectories were associated with the SO42-, Ca2+, Mg2+, NH4+ and H+ concentrations observed on each rainy day. Four factors were used in the statistic analysis and was weighted within each factor. Weights greater than 0.5 are considered to be significant components of each factor. The four factors explain 84.7 % of the total variance of all of the data for CU and 66.9 % for Morelos. All of these factors were associated with all of the analyzed ions. Air pollutant back trajectories were used to understand atmospheric transport and to identify the origins and pathways of air masses influencing the concentrations of the measured ions in rainwater.
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spelling doaj-art-4e89cd8d038b4bee895571104ef0b4ee2025-08-20T02:32:42ZengUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoRevista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas1026-87742007-29022020-03-0137110.22201/cgeo.20072902e.2020.1.1101Chemical composition of rainwater collected from 2006 to 2009 in Mexico City and at a rural site at Morelos State, south central MexicoRocío García-Martínez0Alejandro Carrillo-Chavez1Ricardo Torres-Jardón2Alejandro Ramirez-Guzmán3Moisés López-Carrasco4Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, 04510, Mexico.Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, Mexico.Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, 04510, Mexico.Unidad Académica de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero, Ex hacienda de San Juan Bautista s/n; Taxco el Viejo Guerrero, 40223, Mexico.Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, 04510, Mexico. The objective of the study was to evaluate the chemical composition of rainwater in urban and suburban areas of central Mexico to identify the possible sources of rainwater contamination. The rainwater was collected at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Campus Ciudad Universitaria (CU), in the southern part of Mexico City at 2200 meters above sea level (m a.s.l.). CU has many green areas with high to moderate traffic densities where air quality presents serious problems of pollution by particulate matter. The other sampling site is a forested rural area (Tlalnepantla), State of Morelos, Mexico, a suburban area 86 km to the south of Mexico City. A total of 145 rainwater samples were collected in the rain period from 2006 to 2009. The ions analyzed were the following: SO42-, NO3-, Cl-, HCO3-, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, NH4+ and H+. Ammonium was the most abundant cation in both sites and is one of those responsible for the neutralization of acidic compounds in the atmosphere. The relative abundance of the inorganic anions present in the rainwater was in the following order: SO42- > NO3- > Cl-, for the alkaline metals the order was Ca2+ >Mg2+ > Na+ > K+ and Ca2+ >Mg2+ >K+ >Na+ for CU and Morelos, respectively. A correlation analysis shows a strong positive correlation among the ions, indicating that the most important source was anthropogenic. Air mass back trajectories were associated with the SO42-, Ca2+, Mg2+, NH4+ and H+ concentrations observed on each rainy day. Four factors were used in the statistic analysis and was weighted within each factor. Weights greater than 0.5 are considered to be significant components of each factor. The four factors explain 84.7 % of the total variance of all of the data for CU and 66.9 % for Morelos. All of these factors were associated with all of the analyzed ions. Air pollutant back trajectories were used to understand atmospheric transport and to identify the origins and pathways of air masses influencing the concentrations of the measured ions in rainwater. https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/1101rainwaterionsair pollutionback trajectoriesMexico
spellingShingle Rocío García-Martínez
Alejandro Carrillo-Chavez
Ricardo Torres-Jardón
Alejandro Ramirez-Guzmán
Moisés López-Carrasco
Chemical composition of rainwater collected from 2006 to 2009 in Mexico City and at a rural site at Morelos State, south central Mexico
Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas
rainwater
ions
air pollution
back trajectories
Mexico
title Chemical composition of rainwater collected from 2006 to 2009 in Mexico City and at a rural site at Morelos State, south central Mexico
title_full Chemical composition of rainwater collected from 2006 to 2009 in Mexico City and at a rural site at Morelos State, south central Mexico
title_fullStr Chemical composition of rainwater collected from 2006 to 2009 in Mexico City and at a rural site at Morelos State, south central Mexico
title_full_unstemmed Chemical composition of rainwater collected from 2006 to 2009 in Mexico City and at a rural site at Morelos State, south central Mexico
title_short Chemical composition of rainwater collected from 2006 to 2009 in Mexico City and at a rural site at Morelos State, south central Mexico
title_sort chemical composition of rainwater collected from 2006 to 2009 in mexico city and at a rural site at morelos state south central mexico
topic rainwater
ions
air pollution
back trajectories
Mexico
url https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/1101
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