Immission levels and identification of sulfur dioxide sources in La Oroya city, Peruvian Andes

La Oroya is a city in the Peruvian Andes that has suffered a serious deterioration in its air quality, especially due to the high rate of sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) emissions, which underlines the importance of knowing its sources of contamination and variation over the years. In this sense, this study aimed to evaluate the immission levels and determine the sources of SO(2) contamination in La Oroya. This analysis was performed using the hourly concentration data of SO(2), and meteorological variables (wind speed and direction), which were analyzed for a period of three years (2018–2020). Graphs of time series, wind and pollutant roses, bivariate polar graphs, clustering k-means, nonparametric statistical tests, and the application of the conditional bivariate probability function were performed to analyze the data and identify the emission sources. The mean concentration of SO(2) was 264.2 μg m(−3) for the study period, where 55.66 and 2.37% of the evaluated days exceeded the guideline values recommended by the World Health Organization and the Peruvian Environmental Quality Standard for air for 24 h, respectively. The results showed a defined pattern for the daily and monthly variations, with peaks in the morning hours (0900–1000 h LT) and at the end of the year (December), respectively. The main sources of SO(2) emissions identified were light and heavy vehicles that travel through the Central Highway, the La Oroya Metallurgical Complex, the transit of vehicles within the city, and the diesel–electric locomotives that provide cargo transportation services and tourism passenger transportation. The article attempts to contribute to the development of adequate air quality management policies.