Chemical composition and mass closure for fine and coarse aerosols at a kerbside in Budapest, Hungary, in spring 2002

Abstract

AbstractA comprehensive chemical aerosol characterization was carried out at a kerbside in downtown Budapest in spring 2002. Several filter samplers were deployed in parallel for day and night collections, and a total of 23 parallel collections were made. All samples were analysed for the particulate mass (PM) by weighing. Depending on the sampler type and/or collection substrate, further analyses were performed for up to 46 elements by a combination of particle‐induced x‐ray emission (PIXE) spectrometry and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), for major anions and cations by ion chromatography and for organic carbon and elemental carbon by a thermal–optical transmission technique. Some of the elements measured could clearly be associated with traffic‐related sources, e.g. Cu and Sb were attributed to emissions from brake linings. Aerosol chemical mass closure calculations were made for the separate fine (<2 µm) and coarse (2–10 µm) size fractions and also for the PM10 aerosol. For reconstituting the gravimetric PM, eight aerosol types were considered, and three aerosol types were deduced from the PIXE/INAA elemental data set. Organic matter and elemental carbon were the dominant aerosol types in the fine fraction; they explained on average 43 and 21%, respectively, of the fine PM. The coarse PM consisted mainly of crustal matter (49%) and organic matter (30%). The large contribution from crustal matter (road dust) to the coarse fraction is consistent with other data from kerbside sites in Europe. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.