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DETERMINATION OF SECONDARY ORGANIC AEROSOL PRODUCTS FROM THE PHOTOOXIDATION OF TOLUENE AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS IN AMBIENT PM2.5
Citation:
Kleindienst, T E., T. S. Conver, C. D. McIver, AND E O. Edney. DETERMINATION OF SECONDARY ORGANIC AEROSOL PRODUCTS FROM THE PHOTOOXIDATION OF TOLUENE AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS IN AMBIENT PM2.5. JOURNAL OF ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY 47(1):79-100, (2004).
Impact/Purpose:
1. Using laboratory and field study data generated during FY99-FY04, develop a science version of a PM chemistry model for predicting ambient concentrations of water, inorganics, and organics in PM2.5 samples. The model will include the Aerosol Inorganic Model for predicting concentrations of inorganic compounds and a computational chemistry-based method for predicting concentrations of organic compounds.
2. Identify and evaluate methods for analyzing the polar fraction of PM2.5 samples.
3. Carry out short term field studies in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina in the summer and the winter to determine the composition of the organic fraction of ambient PM2.5 samples, with special emphasis placed on identifying and determining ambient concentrations of polar compounds.
4. Conduct laboratory studies to establish the chemical composition of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and to determine source signatures for aromatic and biogenic SOA.
5. Conduct laboratory and theoretical investigations of thermodynamic properties of polar organic compounds.
6. Evaluate the science version of the PM chemistry model using laboratory and field data generated under this task as well as other available data in the literature.
7. Conduct PM chemistry-related special studies for OAQPS
Description:
Laboratory study was carried out to investigate the secondary organic aerosol products from photooxidation of the aromatic hydrocarbon toluene. The laboratory experiments consisted of irradiating toluene/propylene/NOX/air mixtures in a smog chamber operated in the dynamic mode and collecting submicron secondary organic aerosol samples through a sampling train that consisted of an XAD denuder and a ZefluorTM filter. Oxidation products in the filter extracts were treated using O-(2,3,4,5,6,-pentafluorobenzyl)-hydroxylamine (PFBHA) to derivatize carbonyl groups followed by treatment with N,O-Bis(trimethylsilyl)-acetamide (BSTFA) to derivatize OH groups. The derivatized products were detected with a positive chemical ionization (CI) gas chromatography ion trap mass spectroscopy (GC-ITMS) system. The results of the GC-ITMS analyses were consistent with the previous studies that demonstrated the formation of multi-functional oxygenates. Denuder results showed that many of these same compounds were present in the gas, as well as, the particle phase. Moreover, evidence was found for a series of multifunctional acids produced as higher order oxidation products of the toluene/NOX system. Products having nearly the same mass spectrum were also found in the ambient environment using identical analytical techniques. These products having multiple acid and alcoholic-OH moieties have substantially lower volatility than previously reported SOA products of the toluene photooxidation and might serve as an indicator for aromatic oxidation in the ambient atmosphere.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development funded and collaborated in the research described here under Contract 68-D-00-206 to ManTech Environmental Technology, Inc. It has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation for use.