Platinum group elements (PGE) including Ru, Rh, Pt and Pd have been quantified in air particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter equal or less than 10 microns (PM10) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). PM10 aerosols have been collected from three sites representing various activities in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia. These locations are residential site with heavy traffic, industrial site and heavy traffic and a light traffic site outside the city. To obtain reasonable data of the PGE concentrations, a group from 10 to 15 PM10 samples were collected every month. The annual and seasonal variation of the mass concentration of the PGE were demonstrated. In all locations, Pt and Pd were relatively higher than Ru and Rh possibly because their main use is in automobile catalytic converters. Concentrations of observed PGE in PM10 could be arranged in ascending order as: Rh < Ru < Pd < Pt. In case of Ru and Pt, there are clear similarities in terms of the overall mean concentrations at the sampling locations. Due to the high concentration of Ru, Rh and Pd at low traffic site, there are certainly other sources of these elements rather than vehicle catalytic converters. However, at the industrial/heavy traffic location, high concentrations of Ru were detected during February 2015. In addition, high Pt concentrations were also detected at the light traffic site during May 2015. Results indicate that Pt source in PM10 is mainly the automobile catalytic converters.
Keywords: ICP-MS; Jeddah; PM10 aerosols; platinum group elements (PGE).