Estimation of local and external contributions of biomass burning to PM 2.5 in an industrial zone included in a large urban settlement

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 24; no. 2; p. 2100
• Main Authors: Benetello, Francesca, Squizzato, Stefania, Hofer, Angelika, Masiol, Mauro, Khan, Md Badiuzzaman, Piazzalunga, Andrea, Fermo, Paola, Formenton, Gian Maria, Rampazzo, Giancarlo, Pavoni, Bruno
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany 01.01.2017
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - analysis; Air Pollutants - chemistry; Biomass; Carbon - analysis; Cities; Environmental Monitoring; Fires; Glucose - analogs & derivatives; Glucose - analysis; Italy; Particle Size; Particulate Matter - analysis; Particulate Matter - chemistry; Seasons; Levoglucosan; Inorganic ions; Biomass burning; PM2.5; OC/EC ratio
• ISSN: 1614-7499

A total of 85 PM samples were collected at a site located in a large industrial zone (Porto Marghera, Venice, Italy) during a 1-year-long sampling campaign. Samples were analyzed to determine water-soluble inorganic ions, elemental and organic carbon, and levoglucosan, and results were processed to investigate the seasonal patterns, the relationship between the analyzed species, and the most probable sources by using a set of tools, including (i) conditional probability function (CPF), (ii) conditional bivariate probability function (CBPF), (iii) concentration weighted trajectory (CWT), and (iv) potential source contribution function (PSCF) analyses. Furthermore, the importance of biomass combustions to PM was also estimated. Average PM concentrations ranged between 54 and 16 μg m in the cold and warm period, respectively. The mean value of total ions was 11 μg m (range 1-46 μg m ): The most abundant ion was nitrate with a share of 44 % followed by sulfate (29 %), ammonium (14 %), potassium (4 %), and chloride (4 %). Levoglucosan accounted for 1.2 % of the PM mass, and its concentration ranged from few ng m in warm periods to 2.66 μg m during winter. Average concentrations of levoglucosan during the cold period were higher than those found in other European urban sites. This result may indicate a great influence of biomass combustions on particulate matter pollution. Elemental and organic carbon (EC, OC) showed similar behavior, with the highest contributions during cold periods and lower during summer. The ratios between biomass burning indicators (K , Cl , NO , SO , levoglucosan, EC, and OC) were used as proxy for the biomass burning estimation, and the contribution to the OC and PM was also calculated by using the levoglucosan (LG)/OC and LG/PM ratios and was estimated to be 29 and 18 %, respectively.