Contribution of Organosulfur Compounds to Organic Aerosol Mass
- 16 July 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Environmental Science & Technology
- Vol. 46 (15), 7978-7983
- https://doi.org/10.1021/es300651v
Abstract
Organosulfates have been proposed as products of secondary organic aerosol formation. While organosulfates have been identified in ambient aerosol samples, a question remains as to the magnitude of their contribution to particulate organic mass. At the same time, discrepancies have been observed between total particulate sulfur measured by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy and sulfur present as inorganic sulfate measured by ion chromatography (IC) in fine particulate matter. These differences could be attributed to measurement bias and/or the contribution of other sulfur compounds, including organosulfates. Using the National Park Service IMPROVE PM2.5 database, we examined the disparity between the sulfur and sulfate measurements at 12 sites across the United States to provide upper-bound estimates for the annual average contributions of organosulfates to organic mass. The data set consists of over 150 000 measurements. The 12 sites include Brigantine, NJ, Cape Cod, MA, Washington, DC, Chassahowitzka, FL, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC, Okefenokee, GA, Bondville, IL, Mingo, MO, Phoenix, AZ, San Gabriel, CA, Crater Lake National Park, OR, and Spokane, WA. These sites are representative of the different regions of the country: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest and Northwest. We estimate that organosulfur compounds could comprise as much as 5–10% of the organic mass at these sites. The contribution varies by season and location and appears to be higher during warm months when photochemical oxidation chemistry is most active.Keywords
This publication has 47 references indexed in Scilit:
- Hydroxycarboxylic Acid-Derived Organosulfates: Synthesis, Stability, and Quantification in Ambient AerosolEnvironmental Science & Technology, 2011
- Contribution of isoprene-derived organosulfates to free tropospheric aerosol massProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2010
- Kinetics of the Hydrolysis of Atmospherically Relevant Isoprene-Derived Hydroxy EpoxidesEnvironmental Science & Technology, 2010
- Kinetics and Products of the Acid-Catalyzed Ring-Opening of Atmospherically Relevant Butyl Epoxy AlcoholsThe Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2010
- Radical‐initiated formation of organosulfates and surfactants in atmospheric aerosolsGeophysical Research Letters, 2010
- An evaluation of interagency monitoring of protected visual environments (IMPROVE) collocated precision and uncertainty estimatesAtmospheric Environment, 2008
- Evidence for the Existence of Organosulfates from β-Pinene Ozonolysis in Ambient Secondary Organic AerosolEnvironmental Science & Technology, 2007
- Ion chromatography performances evaluated from the third AQUACON freshwater analysis interlaboratory exerciseAccreditation and Quality Assurance, 2004
- Sampling and analysis of atmospheric sulfates and related speciesAtmospheric Environment (1967), 1978
- Mechanism of Sulfation of Alcohols1,2Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1950