Concentrations and chemical speciation of particulate matter in two Moroccan cities; Meknes and Kenitra

An assessment of air quality in two Moroccan cities (Meknes and Kenitra) was performed by determining the elemental composition of particulate matter (fine and coarse) in a sampling campaign from June 2007 to May 2008 for Kenitra city and from March 2007 to April 2008 for Meknes city. The chemical composition of the collected samples was determined using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The results, for the both cities, show the highest concentrations of particulate matter in summer and the lowest in winter, particularly for coarse fractions. Furthermore, the fine/coarse ratios, for both cities, were in the most case lower than 0.5 indicating the importance of soil dusts and resuspension of deposited soil particles. The major emission sources identified in these two cities were traffic, soil dusts and resuspension of deposited particles.