Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences,11(5) April 2017, Pages: 35-44 AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCES ISSN:1991-8178 EISSN: 2309-8414 Journal home page: www.ajbasweb.com Open Access Journal Published BY AENSI Publication © 2017 AENSI Publisher All rights reserved This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ToCite ThisArticle: Mr. Belamri, L. Bounemia, A. Azbouche, K. Boukeffoussa, C. Lakhdar Chaouch., Assessment of air pollution by heavy metals in the urban center of Algiers. Aust. J. Basic & Appl. Sci., 11(5): 35-44, 2017 Assessment of air pollution by heavy metals in the urban center of Algiers M..Belamri, L.Bounemia, A. Azbouche, K. Boukeffoussa, C. Lakhdar Chaouch Division of Nuclear Techniques, Nuclear Research Center of Algiers, 2, Bd Frantz Fanon BP 399, Algiers, Algeria Address For Correspondence: Louiza Bounemia, Nuclear Research Center of Algiers, Tel: 213 21 43 44 44, Fax: 213 21 43 42 80. E-mail: l.bounemia @ yahoo.com ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Received 18 January 2017 Accepted 28 March 2017 Available online 15 April 2017 Keywords: Air pollution, Total Suspended Particulate, Heavy metals, PIXE, INAA, XRF Background: Growth of population number and industrial units in parallel of increase of terrestrial, maritime and air transports are indicators of a pressure on the environment in particular on the air quality. The intense human activity added to the natural activity leads to the generation of aerosols which are composed of particles of very varied sizes. In particular, fine dust which constitutes a significant factor of pollution involving a deterioration of the air quality. The urban zone needs clean air to assure a public health. To achieve this goal, we need to enrich our knowledge on the sources and the impacts of the atmospheric pollutants. Understanding the sources, the composition and the mode of transformation of the atmospheric pollutants is the first step in air quality monitoring. Methods: The study and control can be achieved by using adequate nuclear techniques analyses. The aim of this work is to study air pollution in urban zone of Algiers for the evaluation of the contents of heavy metals in various selected sites. A sampling campaign was carried out during period 2005/2007 in three sites in the Algiers city: Bab El-Oued the High Casbah and Mustapha Bacha. In order to identify and quantify their concentrations, nuclear techniques such PIXE (Proton Induced X-ray Emission), ED-XRF (Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence) and the INAA (Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis) are used in this study. These techniques are powerful tools used in air pollution monitoring for the determination of trace heavy metals. We identified at the same time 18 elements (Na, Sc, Cr, Fe, Co, Zn, Se, Ag, Sb, Ce, Hf, Ta, Hg, Cu, Pb, Ni, Cd). Results: the concentrations of the elements Hg, Co, Ni, Cr and Ag vary around 2 ng/m 3 . The concentrations of element Zn vary over a wide range from 3 ng / m 3 to more than 500 ng / m 3 . A large values of Pb were measured (5000 ng/m 3 , 8000 ng/m 3 ) and 200 ng/m 3 for Cu. The element Fe appears in all analyzed filters. The concentrations range from low level to high level (8000 ng/m 3 ). Conclusion: the high level measured concentrations show the significant air pollution in urban areas. The major emission sources identified were classified as sea spray (SS), suspended soil and vehicle emissions (vehicle emission VE, diesel and petrol). This analysis allowed us to deduce some significant sources affecting the receptor sites. Among these pollutants one finds heavy metals contained in the suspended matter. INTRODUCTION Algiers capital of Algeria knows a terrible growth of its automobile park. Each year approximately 200,000 to 300,000 units comes to be added to the 2,500,000 vehicles already existing, creating a situation for which neither the state nor the population can manage its immediate and short-term consequences. One will not have forget the other sectors of agriculture and industries which know a significant growth rates and paradoxically accentuate the environmental pollution and contribute to degradation of the air quality. Some air pollution studies in Algiers city have been done (Markowicz and Haselberger, 1992, Kerbachi et al., 2004, Belamri and Benrachedi, 2010, Yahiaoui et al., 2012). These studies showed the evidence existence of air pollution which can cause harm to the environment. It may present a threat to Algiers’s ecosystems and the