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Title:
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Anthropogenic and Natural Constituents in PM10 at urban and rural sites in North-Western Europe: Concentrations, Chemical composition and Sources
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Author(s):
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Published by:
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Publication date:
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ECN
Environment & Energy Engineering
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10-4-2013
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ECN report number:
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Document type:
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ECN-B--13-003
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Book
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Number of pages:
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Full text:
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21
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Download PDF
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Published in: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, Hoofdstuk 207, DOI 10.1007/698_2012_207.
Abstract:
This study focuses on north-western region of Europe discussing questions like the following: Which anthropogenic and natural constituents build up the particulate matter? To what extent do they contribute to the total mass? And where do these constituents originate? To answer, we elaborated data sets containing chemical information of PM recently becoming available in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. The chemical composition of PM10 shows a considerable conformity in these countries. Always, secondary inorganic aerosols (SlA) are the major constituent (±40%) foliowed by the carbonaceous compounds (±25%). Contributions of sea salt and mineral dust vary between 10% and 15% depending on presence and distance of respective sources. The unidentified mass is some 15% indicating that the composition of PM10 in this region is fairly well known. PM10 concentrations and constituents appear systematically higher at urban sites. Urban increments have been measured for most chemical constituents. Nearby (anthropogenic) sourees and reduced dispersion in the urbanised areas are the main determining factors here. The observed increment for SlA is caused by more nitrate and sulphate. It is explained by depletion of chloride stabilising part of the nitrate and sulphate in the coarse mode. The question then arises how to assign the coarse mode nitrate (and sulphate) in the mass closure exercise as they replace the chloride. Important for the national and European air pollution policy is how much of the measured particulate matter is of anthropogenic origin. A simple assessment indicates that 20-25% of PM10 is of natural origin; hence, the majority of PM10 in the north-westem-European region is of anthropogenic origin. The uncertainty in this analysis is considerable, and the result is icative.
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