A Study of the Concentration of Sulfates in the Particulate Matter

A study of the concentration of sulfates in SPM, and its —distribution, has been carried out In two different towns — in Spain. From GF filters, sulfates were extracted by a HCl Solution in a ultrasonic bath. The range of concentrations of sulfates was within 0–11 ug/m3. The average value of sul fates was higher in winter than in summer, but the highest daily concentration was found in the summer, On this study, three variables were taken up: the two mentioned SPM and sulfates, and the S02 concentrations in the air in both spots. The relations SPM-sulfate and S02-sulfate were studied by bivariant distributions. The sulfate concentrations for fixed intervals do not show gaussian distribution, and they could be log-normal one. The same study for S02-sulfate shows neither gaussian distribution nor log-normal one. The average concentrations of sulfates in intervals of SPM and S02 taken from these distributions, showed good correlations between the variables.