AMBIENT CONCENTRATIONS OF ELEMENTAL AND ORGANIC CARBON IN URBAN AND SUBURBAN ATMOSPHERES IN ESKİSEHİR: ESTIMATION OF THE SECONDARY ORGANIC CARBON

Abstract

Ambient air particulate matter samples were collected from urban and suburban sites of Eskişehir in 2012. Samples were collected concurrently from both sites between 26 th of February and 20 th of December 2012. Mass concentrations of particulate matter (fine particles- PM 2.5 , coarse particles- PM 2.5-10 and total suspended particulate matter- TSP ) were determined. TSP samples were analyzed by Thermal Optical Carbon Analyzer to determine elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC) and total carbon (TC) concentrations. It was found that 4.9% of the TSP is composed of EC, and 13.6 % is OC in urban sampling point. EC and OC contributions in suburban sampling points were 2.7% and 9.6% respectively. OC/EC ratio was found to be almost 1.5 times higher in suburban sampling site compared to urban sampling site. EC tracer method was used to estimate the contribution of Secondary Organic Carbon (SOC). The SOC percent of TSP was estimated as 7.1 % and 5.6 % for the urban and suburban locations respectively.