Mineralogical Characteristics of Harmattan Dust Across Jos North Central and Potiskum North Earthern Cities of Nigeria

TL;DR

This study analyzes the mineralogical and elemental composition of harmattan dust in Nigeria, revealing high concentrations of trace metals and minerals, with implications for environmental and health assessments.

Contribution

It provides detailed mineralogical and elemental profiles of harmattan dust in Nigeria using PIXE and AAS techniques, which is novel for this region.

Findings

High concentrations of trace elements in dust samples

Presence of diverse minerals including quartz and hematite

Quantified particle weights in residential and commercial areas

Abstract

The trace metals and mineralogical composition of harmattan dust carried out on the samples collected at Jos ((9 55'N, 8 55'E)) and Potiskum ((11 43'N, 11 02'E) as revealed by PIXE and AAS machine using clean Petri Dishes and Plastic bowls of 10 cm in diameter aimed on the characteristics of the mineralogical and elemental composition of the harmattan dust carried out in Nigeria. Thirteen trace elements, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cd, Zn, Mn, Cu, Si, Al, Ti, and Zr were determined and their concentrations were evaluated in different proportion. Minerals such as Quartz [SiO2], Corundum [Al2O3], Hematite [Fe2O3], Lime [CaO], Periclase [MgO], Rutile [TiO2], Zincite [MnO], Bunsenite [NiO], Cuprite [Cu2O], Zincite [ZnO], Baddeleyite [ZrO2], Litharge [PbO], Monazite [P2O5], Montrodydite [HgO] and Petzite [Au2O3] were also determined in different concentrations. The particle weight of the sample for the residential and commercial areas were calculated to be Jos (18.95g/m2, 19.25g/m2), Potiskum (24.24 g/m2, 2515g/m2) respectively. The results shows that the harmattan dust that blows across the two stations in Nigeria comprise of high elements and more minerals.