Association between magnetic properties and element concentrations of Liverpool street dust and its implications

Ninety-seven street dust samples were collected in a sampling period and 19 sites were revisited. Comparison between 97 sites and 19 revisited sites, using t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), suggests that repres entative magnetic properties, and mean values of some element concentration s and the organic matter content may be obtained with a small number of sam ples from a sampling period of one or several days. Correlation analysis an d factor analysis were applied to investigate associations between magnetic properties and between magnetic properties and element concentrations. The results suggest mixed contributions of magnetic material from urban and na tural sources, probably mainly urban sources. Finally, this study may sugge st a possible approach for source identification of magnetic material in po llution studies. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.