Publication
Title
One-year study of nitro-organic compounds and their relation to wood burning in aerosol from a rural site in Belgium
Author
Abstract
Nitro-organic compounds were determined in a one-year set of atmospheric PM10 filter samples that were collected at a rural background site in Hamme, Belgium. In an earlier study, it was found that the site was substantially impacted by wood burning, making the filter samples appropriate for further investigations on wood burning indicators. In total, four groups of nitro-aromatic compounds (with molecular weights (MWs) of 139, 155, 169, and 183), cc-pinene-related nitrooxy-organosulfates (MW 295), and the resin acid dehydroabietic acid (DHAA, MW 300) were quantified using liquid chromatography combined with negative ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The annual mean concentrations were 0.94, 6.0, 7.7, 4.8, 7.8, and 1.76 ng m(-3) for the sum of the nitrophenols (MW 139), 4-nitrocatechol (MW 155), the sums of the methyl-nitrocatechols (MW 169), of the dimethyl-nitrocatechols (MW 183), and of the cz-pinene-related nitrooxy-organosulfates (MW 295), and DHAA (MW 300), respectively. 4-nitrocatechol, the sum of the methyl-nitrocatechols, and the sum of the dimethyl-nitrocatechols were substantially correlated with levoglucosan (r-values of 0.71, 0.66, and 0.65, respectively), consistent with their proposed origin from biomass burning. The nitro-aromatic compounds were also observed during the summer months, indicating a non-negligible usage of wood burning for domestic purposes at the site. The ch-pinene-related nitrooxy-organosulfates (MW 295) were detected in high concentrations during the winter period, but they were poorly correlated with the biomass burning tracers. All of the targeted species showed a clear seasonal variation with highest concentrations in winter, followed by autumn, spring, and summer. Based on the DHAA measurements, it is suggested that burning of softwood is likely an important source for the formation of all the nitro-organic compounds measured. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Atmospheric environment : an international journal. - Oxford, 1994, currens
Publication
Oxford : 2013
ISSN
1352-2310
DOI
10.1016/J.ATMOSENV.2013.09.041
Volume/pages
81 (2013) , p. 561-568
ISI
000329377600060
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 06.02.2014
Last edited 09.10.2023
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