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PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF EPA'S PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF FEDERAL REFERENCE METHODS AND FEDERAL EQUIVALENT METHODS FOR COARSE PARTICULATE MATTER
Citation:
Solomon, P A., T G. Ellestad, T L. Conner, R B. Zweidinger, M K. Harmon, R. W. Vanderpool, B. Murdoch, S. Natarajan, C. A. Noble, L. Byrd, T. Hanley, AND R. Scheffe. PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF EPA'S PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF FEDERAL REFERENCE METHODS AND FEDERAL EQUIVALENT METHODS FOR COARSE PARTICULATE MATTER. Presented at Particulate Matter: Atmospheric Sciences, Exposure and the Fourth Colloquium on PM and Human Health, Pittsburgh, PA, March 31-April 4, 2003.
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:
The main objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of sampling methods for potential use as a Federal Reference Method (FRM) capable of providing an estimate of coarse particle (PMc: particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter between 2.5 µm and 10 µm) mass concentrations in ambient air. Three sampling approaches are being evaluated. These approaches include a discrete method for measuring coarse particles directly using a sequential sampler; a discrete difference method, which uses two samplers, one to measure PM2.5 the other PM10 with the difference, PM10-PM2.5, representing an estimate of PMc; and two continuous coarse particle samplers that measure PMc directly with a time resolution of less than 1 hour. The direct sequential and continuous methods use the dichotomous virtual impactor for separating fine and coarse particles. The samplers will be evaluated in three locations that provide diverse challenges to the samplers, including high PMc to PM10, high PM2.5 to PM10, and an intermittent site (impacted by a source to see high and low values) under cold conditions. This presentation will provide preliminary results from the first location with (high PM2.5 to PM10).
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 The actual presentation has not been peer reviewed by EPA.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..