Mass and ionic composition of atmospheric fine particles over Belgium and their relation with gaseous air pollutants
- 28 August 2008
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in Journal of Environmental Monitoring
- Vol. 10 (10), 1148-1157
- https://doi.org/10.1039/b805157g
Abstract
Mass, major ionic components (MICs) of PM2.5, and related gaseous pollutants (SO2, NOx, NH3 , HNO2, and HNO3 ) were monitored over six locations of different anthropogenic influence (industrial, urban, suburban, and rural) in Belgium. SO4 2 −, NO3 −, NH4 +, and Na+ were the primary ions of PM2.5 with averages diurnal concentrations ranging from 0.4–4.5, 0.3–7.6, 0.9–4.9, and 0.4–1.2 µg m−3, respectively. MICs formed 39% of PM2.5 on an average, but it could reach up to 80–98%. The SO2, NO, NO2, HNO2, and HNO3 levels showed high seasonal and site-specific fluctuations. The NH3 levels were similar over all the sites (2–6 µg m−3), indicating its relation to the evenly distributed animal husbandry activities. The sulfur and nitrogen oxidation ratios for PM2.5 point towards a low-to-moderate formation of secondary sulfate and nitrate aerosols over five cities/towns, but their fairly intensive formation over the rural Wingene. Cluster analysis revealed the association of three groups of compounds in PM2.5: (i) NH4NO3, KNO3; (ii) Na2SO4; and (iii) MgCl2, CaCl2, MgF2, CaF2, corresponding to anthropogenic, sea-salt, and mixed (sea-salt + anthropogenic) aerosols, respectively. The neutralization and cation-to-anion ratios indicate that MICs of PM2.5 appeared mostly as (NH4)2SO4 and NH4NO3 salts. Sea-salt input was maximal during winter reaching up to 12% of PM2.5. The overall average Cl-loss for sea-salt particles of PM2.5 at the six sites varied between 69 and 96% with an average of 87%. Principal component analysis revealed vehicular emission, coal/wood burning and animal farming as the dominating sources for the ionic components of PM2.5.Keywords
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