Characterization of organic compounds in winter PM1 aerosols in a small industrial town

Abstract

PM1 aerosol, collected during winter campaign in urban area situated close to a large automobile factory, was analysed on content of selected organic compounds, namely monosaccharide anhydrides, diterpenoids (including retene and resin acids), n-alkanes (including pristane and phytane), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (including picene), monosaccharides, disaccharides, polyols, hopanes and steranes.Monosaccharide anhydrides (MAs, markers for biomass burning) were the most abundant organic compounds (the mean sum of concentration of 513 ng m−3). The sum of MAs constituted in average 70.0% of the mass of all analysed organic compounds and 1.91% of the PM1 mass. Diterpenoids, markers for softwood combustion, were the second most abundant analysed organic compounds (the mean concentration of 119 ng m−3). The mean concentrations of other studied organic compounds were smaller, namely saccharides 31.6 ng m−3, n-alkanes, including isoprenoids 35.3 ng m−3, PAHs 15.6 ng m−3 and hopanes, including one sterane 1.54 ng m−3.Combustion of solid fuels (coal and wood) for household heating was the dominant emission source of carbonaceous aerosols sampled during the campaign. The composition of aerosols collected in the studied locality was affected by local emissions and also by regional transport of polluted air from small villages nearby Mladá Boleslav.Two unit risks (WHO and CalEPA) were applied for the estimation of carcinogenic risk of PAHs exposure. The computed lifetime cancer risk at the studied locality during the campaign period was 1.93 × 10−4 (WHO unit risk) and 2.43 × 10−6 (CalEPA unit risk) on average. However, the real cancer risk for the lifetime exposure (70 years) is lower at the studied locality because our measurement lasted only 2 weeks in winter when the concentrations of PAHs were higher than in other seasons of the year.