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SEMIVOLATILE ORGANIC ACIDS AND LEVOGLUCOSAN IN NEW YORK CITY AIR FOLLOWING 9/11/2001
Citation:
Hays, M D., L Stockburger, J. D. Lee, A F. Vette, AND E Swartz. SEMIVOLATILE ORGANIC ACIDS AND LEVOGLUCOSAN IN NEW YORK CITY AIR FOLLOWING 9/11/2001. Presented at Urban Aerosols and Their Impacts: Lessons Learned from the World Trade Center Tragedy, New York, NY, September 07 - 11, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Organic acid compounds and levoglucosan, an important molecular marker of burning cellulose, are detected in New York City air collected between 9/26/01 and 10/24/01 500 m from Ground Zero. Sampling of Ground Zero emissions at our site is commensurate with a southwesterly wind flow. Aerosol phase distributions captured with a High Capacity Integrated Organic Gas and Particle Sampler (HiC IOGAPS) show many of the organic acids are semivolatile. However, underlying the phase equilibrium for certain acid molecules is a set of factors more complex than vapor pressure alone can explain. At our collection site, quartz filter acid concentrations by class (n-alkanoic and alkanedioic) follow predicted seasonal trends and are generally below annual average and episodic (photochemical smog event) concentrations determined earlier for the urban Los Angeles sky. Here, analysis of distribution patterns of in-series acid homologues is consistent with pyrogenic burden, the specifics of which are discussed. By evaluating the inorganic bulk chemistry of airborne PM 2.5 emissions from Ground Zero after 9/11 with X-ray fluorescence, tentative assignments to sources of construction materials (flame-retardant, paint, cement, and polymer materials) are construed.