Stable carbon isotope measurements of atmospheric organic acids in Los Angeles, California

Abstract

Atmospheric organic acids are ubiquitous constituents of urban smog and haze and are also present in the atmospheres of rural and largely uninhabited areas (e.g., the Amazon Rain Forest Basin). We report here source characterization of atmospheric organic acids in Los Angeles by measurements of their stable carbon isotopic ratios, e.g., 13C/12C(δ13C). The study was performed by separating formic and acetic acids using ion chromatography exclusion (ICE) and isolating milligram quantities of individual organic acids from atmospheric rain samples. Authentic reference samples of formic and acetic acids were used to determine that only a negligible isotope fractionation of δ13C value occurs after the ICE separation. During 1991–1992, rainwaters were collected in Los Angeles to isolate formic and acetic acids for the isotope measurements. Results presented in this paper demonstrate a significant isotopic difference between the mean δ13C value for acetic acid (−20.5‰) and formic acid (−30.1‰). We conclude from these results that the formic acid is derived from mixing of formic acid from direct emissions with the acid formed by secondary oxidation processes in the atmosphere, most probably from aldehydes, whereas acetic acid originates only from direct source emissions.