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CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF AMBIENT PARTICULATE MATTER NEAR THE WORLD TRADE CENTER: ELEMENTAL CARBON, ORGANIC CARBON, AND MASS RECONSTRUCTION
Citation:
Olson, D A., G A. Norris, M S. Landis, AND A F. Vette. CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF AMBIENT PARTICULATE MATTER NEAR THE WORLD TRADE CENTER: ELEMENTAL CARBON, ORGANIC CARBON, AND MASS RECONSTRUCTION. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 38(17):4465-4473, (2004).
Impact/Purpose:
Develop and evaluate methods for the sampling and analysis of PM in ambient air, with emphasis on FRM/FEM for PMc, measurement of carbonaceous aerosols, measurement of biogenic aerosols, comparisons measurements from the STN and IMPROVE monitoring networks, and continuous methods for PM mass and its chemical components.
Description:
Concentrations of elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon matter (OM), particulate matter less than 2.5 um (PM2.5), and reconstructed soil, trace element oxides, and sulfate are reported from four locations near the World Trade Center (WTC) complex for airborne particulate matter (PM) samples collected from September 2001 through January 2002. Across the four sampling sites, daily mean concentrations ranged from 1.5-6.8 ug/m3 for EC, from 10.2-31.4 ug/m3 for OM, and from 22.6-66.2 ug/m3 for PM2.5. Highest concentrations of PM species were generally measured north and west of the WTC complex. Total carbon matter and sulfate constituted the largest fraction of reconstructed PM2.5 concentrations. Concentrations of PM species across all sites decreased from the period when fires were present at the WTC complex (before December 19, 2001) to the period after fires. Averaged over all sites, concentrations decreased by 25.6 ug/m3 for PM2.5, 2.7 ug/m3 for EC, and 9.2 ug/m3 for OM from the fire period to after fire period.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development funded and managed the research described here. It has been subjected to Agency's administration review and approved for publication as an EPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.