Chemical characterization and sources apportionment of fine particulate pollution in a mining town of Vietnam Nguyen Thanh Hang, Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh ⁎ Environmental Engineering and Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani, Thailand article info abstract Article history: Received 23 July 2013 Received in revised form 7 April 2014 Accepted 8 April 2014 Available online 18 April 2014 Monitoring for PM 2.5 was conducted in a mining town in Northern Vietnam in both dry and wet seasons from 2009 to 2010. Levels and compositions of PM were characterized at two sites representing two separate air bubbles; an industrial site in Mong Duong (MD) and a reference rural site in Cam Hai (CH). Two MiniVol samplers were collocated to collect 24 h PM 2.5 samples for about 30 days at each site in a season, simultaneously with meteorological data recording. All samples were analyzed for mass, black carbon (BC), water soluble ions and elements, while selected samples were also analyzed for OC (organic carbon) and EC (element carbon). Higher PM 2.5 levels were observed in the dry season than the wet season at both sites in spite of abnormal rainfall occurrences observed on some days during the dry season. In both seasons, higher PM 2.5 levels were observed in the industrial site than the reference rural site. The differences in PM, BC or EC and OC levels between two sites and between two seasons at one site, respectively, were all statistically significant except for that in OC between two sites, and BC between two seasons at MD. The reconstructed PM 2.5 mass indicated major contributing groups being organic matter, secondary inorganic particles, crustal and soot in both seasons. Higher values of K-Smoke in the dry season suggested more contribution from biomass burning. The PMF results revealed the largest contribution to PM 2.5 mass from secondary PM (35–40%); followed by biomass burning, ship and road traffic (diesel) each had a share of 15–22%; and a small contribution from miscellaneous sources such as industry and construction activities (3–8%). Analysis of HYSPLIT backward trajectory patterns showed a high potential contribution of the long range transport (LRT) pollution when air masses had long continental pathways before arriving at the study area. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Fine particulate matter Composition Source apportionment Mining area Long range transport Vietnam 1. Introduction Fine particles or PM 2.5 (particles with aerodynamic diameter below 2.5 μm) reduce atmospheric visibility (Watson, 2002), poses serious health concerns (Donaldson and MacNee, 1998) and can affect the Earth's climate (Bond et al., 2013). Atmospheric particles research, which continues to attract increasing worldwide interest, reports high levels of PM 2.5 for many Asian cities (Hopke et al., 2008; Kim Oanh et al., 2006). However, there is still a general lack of systematic and long term records of mass and composition of particulate matter (PM), particularly PM 2.5 , in Asian developing countries. This prevents a comprehensive assessment of the adverse effects so as to raise adequate awareness leading to actions to reduce air pollution. Quang Ninh province is located in Northern Vietnam and is an important coal mining area with about 90% of the national coal reserve. The province is also the location for many popular tourist attraction sites, including Ha Long Bay. These resources help enable a fast economic development but also put a great pressure on the environment. Currently, Quang Ninh's envi- ronment management is still a challenging task that lags behind the rapid pace of its economic development. The PM pollution was reported to be high in several locations in the Atmospheric Research 145–146 (2014) 214–225 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: kimoanh@ait.ac.th (N.T. Kim Oanh). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2014.04.009 0169-8095/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Atmospheric Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/atmos