Elsevier

Atmospheric Environment

Volume 41, Issue 17, June 2007, Pages 3631-3643
Atmospheric Environment

Air quality and organic compounds in aerosols from a coastal rural area in the Western Iberian Peninsula over a year long period: Characterisation, loads and seasonal trends

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.12.046Get rights and content

Abstract

Ambient samples of fine organic aerosol collected from a rural area (Moitinhos) in the vicinity of the small coastal Portuguese city of Aveiro over a period of more than one year have been solvent-extracted and quantitatively characterised by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Particles were also analysed with a thermal-optical technique in order to determine their elemental and organic carbon content. In addition, meteorological sensors and real-time black carbon, ozone and carbon monoxide monitors were used. Particulate matter values were higher than background levels in continental Europe. A patent seasonal variation for organic and elemental carbon concentrations was observed, presumably related to stronger local primary emissions and to limited vertical dispersion. The higher levels were most likely a result of residential wood burning, since black carbon and carbon monoxide maximised during late evening hours in wintertime. Of the bulk of elutable organics, more than a half, on average, was present as acidic fraction. Alcohols, aliphatic and polyaromatic hydrocarbons represented together, more than 30% of the elutable mass, also showing a marked seasonal pattern with a minimum in summer and a maximum in winter. The winter increase was more evident for resinic acids, phytosterols, n-alkanoic acids and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Introduction

In most areas of Europe, gaseous and particulate atmospheric pollutants are chiefly the products of combustion from space heating, power generation or from motor vehicle traffic. Pollutants from these sources may not only prove a problem in the immediate vicinity, but can travel long distances, chemically reacting in the atmosphere to produce secondary pollutants, and impacting rural areas often far from the original emission site. Rural background sites help sort out regional sources of fine particles and prove useful in the development of control strategies. Reductions in gaseous and particulate pollutants are needed and may be more important from the stand-point of health effects and contribution to climate change. These reductions should be at least partially addressed by regulations on motorway and off-road traffic circulation.

One of the current priorities of research in atmospheric pollution is concentrated on the study of aerosols, namely in aspects related to their chemical composition, with special interest in the smallest particles. Aerosols have the potential to significantly influence our entire planet through their role in heterogeneous chemistry in the troposphere and stratosphere (Finlayson-Pitts and Pitts, 2000), as well as their effect on the Earth's climate as they scatter sunlight and serve as condensation nuclei for cloud droplet formation (Charlson et al., 1992, Penner et al., 2001, Ramanathan et al., 2001). At present, the radiative effects of aerosols have the largest uncertainties in global climate estimations to compute climate forcing due to anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere. A better understanding of the formation, composition and transformation of aerosols in the atmosphere is of decisive importance in order to better predict these effects.

A significant fraction of total atmospheric particulate matter is carbonaceous (Pio et al., 2001). Measurements of carbonaceous aerosol constituents in Portugal are still scarce and limited to only a few places. Nevertheless, existing data are, in most cases, short-termed and devoted to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), due to their intrinsic mutagenic, teratogenic or carcinogenic properties (Alves and Ferraz, 2005, Alves et al., 2001, Alves et al., 2002, Pio et al., 2001, Rocha and Duarte, 1997, Rocha et al., 1999).

This paper reports the results of more than one year of research concerning the PM2.5 organic constitution in a Portuguese rural area. The measurement of gaseous components (O3 and CO), black carbon (BC) and meteorological parameters has helped to interpret results, in a tentative of inferring the contribution from different sources and the influence of weather variability on atmospheric characteristics.

Section snippets

Experimental

Integrated in the EU project CARBOSOL, atmospheric aerosol samples were collected, continuously, on a weekly basis, from July 2002 to September 2003, on pre-fired quartz fibre filters. Aiming to separate particles into two size fractions (aerodynamic diameter, dp<2.5μm and 2.5<dp<10μm), a PM2.5 impactor (Tisch TE—231F) and a PM10 size selective inlet (Sierra SSI 1220) were used. To categorise aerosols according to size, a high-volume instrument Sierra-Andersen was intermittently operated with a

Aerosol mass, carbon and gaseous ambient air pollutants

The PM values observed at Moitinhos (Table 1) are higher than background levels in continental Europe. Background annual average concentrations for continental Europe are 7.0±4.1 and 4.8±2.4μgm-3 for PM10 and PM2.5, respectively (Dingenen et al., 2004). The periods with low concentrations coincided with days with synoptic systems of low pressure associated with rain. In our study, average PM2.5/PM10 ratios of 0.66 and 0.59 were found, respectively, in the autumn/winter and spring/summer samples

Conclusions

PM2.5 average concentrations of 23μgm-3 were measured in Moitinhos, 41% of which was carbonaceous material. There is a patent seasonal variation for OC and EC levels, as well for carbon monoxide and elutable organic compounds. Relatively higher levels were detected during winter compared to other periods, as a result of wood burning for residential heating. Contrary to the OC and EC levels, the OC/EC ratio does not show any clear seasonal pattern and a high average value of 5.38 was obtained,

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the European Union through the CARBOSOL project (EVK2-2001-00067). The authors also are grateful to the Portuguese Science Foundation for financial support through a Ph.D. grant to Tiago Oliveira.

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