You are here:
SEMI-VOLATILE ORGANIC ACIDS AND OTHER POLAR COMPOUNDS COLLECTED IN NEW YORK CITY IN RESPONSE TO THE EVENTS OF 9/11
Citation:
Swartz, E, L Stockburger, M D. Hays, AND N. D. Smith. SEMI-VOLATILE ORGANIC ACIDS AND OTHER POLAR COMPOUNDS COLLECTED IN NEW YORK CITY IN RESPONSE TO THE EVENTS OF 9/11. Presented at 226th American Chemical Society National Meeting, New York, NY, September 7-11, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
The main objectives of this research are to measure ambient concentrations of PM and related air toxics in lower Manhattan as they pertain to transport of PM and air toxics emitted in the vicinity of the WTC recovery site.
Description:
Concentrations of over 25 polar semi-volatile and non-volatile organic compounds were measured in Lower Manhattan, New York using a high capacity Integrated Organic Gas and Particle sampler, after the initial destruction of the World Trade Center. The polar organic compounds in ambient fine aerosols were sampled diurnally and daily between 9/26/01-10/24/01. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first data quantifying the organic acids in aerosols from Ground Zero emissions. The polar compounds were collected using a recently introduced high capacity Integrated Organic Gas and Particle (HiC IOGAP) sampler [1]. This work in part shows the effectiveness of the HiC IOGAP sampler for the collection of different organic acid species and levoglucosan, an important molecular marker for burning cellulose. Polar compounds were identified with GC/MS following derivaterization by diazomethane and BSTFA.
Ion chromatography and X-ray fluorescence methods were implemented to determine the anion, cation, and elemental constituents in aerosol emissions from Ground Zero. These analyses indicated whether alkaline cementitious materials are present in the fine aerosol. Airborne cement fines may result in atmospheric scavenging of organic acids via an acid-base reaction. The presence of such cementitious species may also indicate some resuspension of the settled dust, since a significant cementitious component within the settled dust was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD).
This is an abstract of a proposed presentation and does not necessarily reflect the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policy. The actual presentation has not been peer reviewed by EPA. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.