Abstract. The implementation of stringent emission regulations has resulted in the decline of anthropogenic pollutants including sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and carbon monoxide (CO). In contrast, ammonia (NH3) emissions are largely unregulated, with emissions projected to increase in the future. We present real-time aerosol and gas measurements from a field study conducted in an agriculturally intensive region in the southeastern US during the fall of 2016 to investigate how NH3 affects particle acidity and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation via the gas–particle partitioning of semi-volatile organic acids. Particle water and pH were determined using the ISORROPIA II thermodynamic model and validated by comparing predicted inorganic HNO3-NO3- and NH3-NH4+ gas–particle partitioning ratios with measured values. Our results showed that despite the high NH3 concentrations (average 8.1±5.2 ppb), PM1 was highly acidic with pH values ranging from 0.9 to 3.8, and an average pH of 2.2±0.6. PM1 pH varied by approximately 1.4 units diurnally. Formic and acetic acids were the most abundant gas-phase organic acids, and oxalate was the most abundant particle-phase water-soluble organic acid anion. Measured particle-phase water-soluble organic acids were on average 6 % of the total non-refractory PM1 organic aerosol mass. The measured molar fraction of oxalic acid in the particle phase (i.e., particle-phase oxalic acid molar concentration divided by the total oxalic acid molar concentration) ranged between 47 % and 90 % for a PM1 pH of 1.2 to 3.4. The measured oxalic acid gas–particle partitioning ratios were in good agreement with their corresponding thermodynamic predictions, calculated based on oxalic acid's physicochemical properties, ambient temperature, particle water, and pH. In contrast, gas–particle partitioning ratios of formic and acetic acids were not well predicted for reasons currently unknown. For this study, higher NH3 concentrations relative to what has been measured in the region in previous studies had minor effects on PM1 organic acids and their influence on the overall organic aerosol and PM1 mass concentrations.

Abstract. Particulate matter (PM), of which a significant fraction is comprised of secondary organic aerosols (SOA), has received considerable attention due to its health implications. In this study, the water-soluble oxidative potential (OPWS) of SOA generated from the photooxidation of biogenic and anthropogenic hydrocarbon precursors (isoprene, α-pinene, β-caryophyllene, pentadecane, m-xylene, and naphthalene) under different reaction conditions (RO2+ HO2 vs. RO2+ NO dominant, dry vs. humid) was characterized using dithiothreitol (DTT) consumption. The measured intrinsic OPWS-DTT values ranged from 9 to 205 pmol min−1 µg−1 and were highly dependent on the specific hydrocarbon precursor, with naphthalene and isoprene SOA generating the highest and lowest OPWS-DTT values, respectively. Humidity and RO2 fate affected OPWS-DTT in a hydrocarbon-specific manner, with naphthalene SOA exhibiting the most pronounced effects, likely due to the formation of nitroaromatics. Together, these results suggest that precursor identity may be more influential than reaction condition in determining SOA oxidative potential, demonstrating the importance of sources, such as incomplete combustion, to aerosol toxicity. In the context of other PM sources, all SOA systems, with the exception of naphthalene SOA, were less DTT active than ambient sources related to incomplete combustion, including diesel and gasoline combustion as well as biomass burning. Finally, naphthalene SOA was as DTT active as biomass burning aerosol, which was found to be the most DTT-active OA source in a previous ambient study. These results highlight a need to consider SOA contributions (particularly from anthropogenic hydrocarbons) to health effects in the context of hydrocarbon emissions, SOA yields, and other PM sources.

Abstract. Cardiopulmonary health implications resulting from exposure to secondary organic aerosols (SOA), which comprise a significant fraction of ambient particulate matter (PM), have received increasing interest in recent years. In this study, alveolar macrophages were exposed to SOA generated from the photooxidation of biogenic and anthropogenic precursors (isoprene, α-pinene, β-caryophyllene, pentadecane, m-xylene, and naphthalene) under different formation conditions (RO 2 + HO 2 vs. RO 2 + NO dominant, dry vs. humid). Various cellular responses were measured, including reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) production and secreted levels of cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). SOA precursor identity and formation condition affected all measured responses in a hydrocarbon-specific manner. With the exception of naphthalene SOA, cellular responses followed a trend where TNF-α levels reached a plateau with increasing IL-6 levels. ROS/RNS levels were consistent with relative levels of TNF-α and IL-6, due to their respective inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects. Exposure to naphthalene SOA, whose aromatic-ring-containing products may trigger different cellular pathways, induced higher levels of TNF-α and ROS/RNS than suggested by the trend. Distinct cellular response patterns were identified for hydrocarbons whose photooxidation products shared similar chemical functionalities and structures, which suggests that the chemical structure (carbon chain length and functionalities) of photooxidation products may be important for determining cellular effects. A positive nonlinear correlation was also detected between ROS/RNS levels and previously measured DTT (dithiothreitol) activities for SOA samples. In the context of ambient samples collected during summer and winter in the greater Atlanta area, all laboratory-generated SOA produced similar or higher levels of ROS/RNS and DTT activities. These results suggest that the health effects of SOA are important considerations for understanding the health implications of ambient aerosols.

Abstract. Atmospheric organic aerosol (OA) has important impacts on climate and human health but its sources remain poorly understood. Biogenic monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes are important precursors of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), but the amounts and pathways of SOA generation from these precursors are not well constrained by observations. We propose that the less-oxidized oxygenated organic aerosol (LO-OOA) factor resolved from positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis on aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS) data can be used as a surrogate for fresh SOA from monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in the southeastern US. This hypothesis is supported by multiple lines of evidence, including lab-in-the-field perturbation experiments, extensive ambient ground-level measurements, and state-of-the-art modeling. We performed lab-in-the-field experiments in which the ambient air is perturbed by the injection of selected monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, and the subsequent SOA formation is investigated. PMF analysis on the perturbation experiments provides an objective link between LO-OOA and fresh SOA from monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes as well as insights into the sources of other OA factors. Further, we use an upgraded atmospheric model and show that modeled SOA concentrations from monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes could reproduce both the magnitude and diurnal variation of LO-OOA at multiple sites in the southeastern US, building confidence in our hypothesis. We estimate the annual average concentration of SOA from monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in the southeastern US to be roughly 2 µg m−3.

The atmospheric evolution of organic compounds encompasses many thousands of compounds with varying volatility, polarity, and water solubility. The molecular-level chemical composition of this mixture plays a major, yet uncertain, role in its transformations and impacts. Here we perform a non-targeted molecular-level intercomparison of functionalized organic aerosol from three diverse field sites and a chamber. Despite similar bulk composition, we report large molecular-level variability between multi-hour organic aerosol samples at each site, with 66 ± 13% of functionalized compounds differing between consecutive samples. Single precursor environmental laboratory chamber experiments and fully chemically-explicit modeling confirm this variability is due to changes in emitted precursors, chemical age, and/or oxidation conditions. These molecular-level results demonstrate greater compositional variability than is typically observed in less-speciated measurements, such as bulk elemental composition, which tend to show less daily variability. These observations should inform future field and laboratory studies, including assessments of the effects of variability on aerosol properties and ultimately the development of strategic organic aerosol parameterizations for air quality and climate models.