Assessing Sources of PM_2.5in Cities Influenced by Regional Transport

Abstract

The human health effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) have provided impetus for the establishment of new air quality standards or guidelines in many countries. This has led to the need for information on the main sources responsible for PM2.5. In urban locations being impacted by regional-scale transport, source-receptor relationships for PM2.5 are complex and require the application of multiple receptor-based analysis methods to gain a better understanding. This approach is being followed to study the sources of PM2.5 impacting southern Ontario, Canada, and its major city of Toronto. Existing monitoring data in the region around Toronto and within Toronto itself are utilized to estimate that 30-45% of the PM2.5 is from local sources, which implies that 55-70% is transported into the area. In addition, there are locations in the city that can be shown to experience a greater impact from local sources such as motor vehicle traffic. Detailed PM2.5 chemical characterization data were collected in Toronto in order to apply two different multivariate receptor models to determine the main sources of the PM2.5. Both approaches produced similar results, indicating that motor-vehicle-related emissions, most likely of local origin, are directly responsible for about 20% of the PM2.5. Gasoline engine vehicles were found to be a greater overall contributor (13%) compared to diesel vehicles (8%). Secondary PM2.5 from coal-fired power plants continues to be a significant contributor (20-25%) and also played a role in enhancing production of secondary organic carbon mass (15%) on fine particles. Secondary fine particle nitrate was the single most important source (35%), with a large fraction of this likely related to motor vehicle emissions. Independent use of different receptor models helps provide more confidence in the source apportionment, as does comparison of results among complementary receptor-based data analysis approaches.

Comparing Gravimetric and Real-Time Sampling of PM2.5Concentrations Inside Truck Cabins

“…PM 2.5 is one of the most widely monitored and studied components (1–5) in traffic-related air pollution. It is linked to numerous cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases (6–12) because of its ability to penetrate to the deepest portions of lungs and its large surface area that may favor adsorption of toxic substances (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and soluble metals).…”

Anthropogenic Sources of Nanoparticles

“…3.22). Particulate matter released by diesel engines are considered very harmful, as the particles are extremely small and can be inhaled very easily [82][83][84].…”

How Aeolian Dust Deteriorate Ambient Particulate Air Quality along an Expansive River Valley in Southern Taiwan? A Case Study of Typhoon Doksuri

“…Studies have used several measures to assess the comparative performance of various source apportionment techniques namely, CMB receptor modelling, positive matrix factorization, principal component analysis (PCA), absolute principal component analysis, and targeted factor analysis (Hopke et al, 2006;Brook et al, 2007;Nayebare et al, 2016). In the present study, we solely use CMB receptor model to resolve source identification and apportionment of potential emission sources because of the limited PM 10 samples (Tsai et al, 2010;Li et al, 2015).…”