Chemical Characterization of Marine Aerosols in a South Mediterranean Coastal Area Located in Bou Ismaïl, Algeria

Khedidji, Sidali; Müller, Konrad; Rabhi, Lyes; Spindler, Gerald; Fomba, Khanneh Wadinga; Pinxteren, Dominik van; Yassaa, Noureddine; Herrmann, Hartmut

doi:10.4209/aaqr.2019.09.0458

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 79 publications

(131 reference statements)

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“…Two factors cloud be responsible for the high nitrate concentration recorded at AMV. Firstly, the mineral dust particles present in the Middle Atlas region contain calcium carbonates (calcite and dolomite), which can react with nitric acid gas in the atmosphere to form nitrate salts (Krueger et al, 2004;Khrissi et al, 2018). Second, the difference could be explained by long-range transport of polluted air mass from MCE and ACE, which enhanced the nitrate concentration.…”

Section: Ammonium Nitrate and Sulfatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two main sources are known to be responsible for the presence of n-alkane-2-one in the air: incomplete combustion and in situ microbial α oxidation of the carbon chain (Khedidji et al, 2020). The first source often creates n-alkane-2one with a predominance of odd-numbered carbon atoms; on the other hand, the last source gives rise to the opposite.…”

Section: N-alkan-2-onesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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First insights into northern Africa high-altitude background aerosol chemical composition and source influences

et al. 2021

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Abstract. Field measurements were conducted to determine aerosol chemical composition at a newly established remote high-altitude site in North Africa at the Atlas Mohammed V (AMV) atmospheric observatory located in the Middle Atlas Mountains. The main objectives of the present work are to investigate the variations in the aerosol composition and better assess global and regional changes in atmospheric composition in North Africa. A total of 200 particulate matter (PM10) filter samples were collected at the site using a high-volume (HV) collector in a 12 h sampling interval from August to December 2017. The chemical composition of the samples was analyzed for trace metals, water-soluble ions, organic carbon (OC/EC), aliphatic hydrocarbons, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contents. The results indicate that high-altitude aerosol composition is influenced by both regional and transregional transport of emissions. However, local sources play an important role, especially during low wind speed periods, as observed for November and December. During background conditions characterized by low wind speeds (avg. 3 m s-1) and mass concentrations in the range from 9.8 to 12 μg m-3, the chemical composition is found to be dominated by inorganic elements, mainly suspended dust (61 %) and ionic species (7 %), followed by organic matter (7 %), water content (12 %), and unidentified mass (11 %). Despite the proximity of the site to the Sahara, its influence on the atmospheric composition at this high-altitude site was mainly seasonal and accounted for only 22 % of the sampling duration. Biogenic organics contributed up to 7 % of the organic matter with high contributions from compounds such as heneicosane, hentriacontane, and nonacosane. The AMV site is dominated by four main air mass inflows, which often leads to different aerosol chemical compositions. Mineral dust influence was seasonal and ranged between 21 % and 74 % of the PM mass, with peaks observed during the summer, and was accompanied by high concentrations of SO42- of up to 3.0 μg m-3. During winter, PM10 concentrations are low (<30 μg m-3), the influence of the desert is weaker, and the marine air masses (64 %) are more dominant with a mixture of sea salt and polluted aerosol from the coastal regions (Rabat and Casablanca). During the daytime, mineral dust contribution to PM increased by about 42 % because of road dust resuspension. In contrast, during nighttime, an increase in the concentrations of alkanes, PAHs, alkane-2-ones, and anthropogenic metals such as Pb, Ni, and Cu was found due to variations in the boundary layer height. The results provide the first detailed seasonal and diurnal variation of the aerosol chemical composition, which is valuable for long-term assessment of climate and regional influence of air pollution in North Africa.

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Section: Ammonium Nitrate and Sulfatementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: N-alkan-2-onesmentioning

confidence: 99%

First insights into northern Africa high-altitude background aerosol chemical composition and source influences

et al. 2021

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“…Their study analyzed the chemical compositions of aerosols between May 2011 and April 2012, suggesting that carbonaceous aerosols were mainly related to local emissions by traffic than transported over long distances. Khedidji et al ( 2020 ) reported lower contributions of OC (3.1 μg m −3 ) and EC (1.2 μg m −3 ) from September 2011 to January 2012 in Bou Ismaïl, Algeria, which is located in the south Mediterranean coastal area. Similarly to Fez, OC (3.72 μg m −3 ) and EC (1.36 μg m −3 ) mean concentrations were also significantly elevated in October (Khedidji et al 2020 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of anthropogenic activities on metals, sugars and PAHs in PM10 in the city of Fez, Morocco: Implications on air quality

Deabji,

Fomba,

dos Santos Souza

et al. 2024

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Particulate matter (PM) is an important component in the atmosphere, affecting air quality, health, radiation balance, and global climate. To assess regional air quality in the city of Fez, an intensive field campaign was carried out in the autumn of 2019 in the Middle Atlas region of Morocco. Aerosol sampling was performed simultaneously at two urban sites in the city of Fez: (1) Fez University (FU), a sub-urban site, and (2) Fez Parc (FP), an urban site located in the city center of Fez, using PM10 collectors. Various laboratory analyses were carried out, including PM mass, trace metals, inorganic ions, OC/EC, sugar compounds, and PAHs. The results indicate that the PM10 mass (61 ng m−3) was comparable at both sites, with a 37–107 ng m−3 range. Most of the 19 investigated PAHs at the FU site (10.2 ± 6.2 ng m−3) were low-molecular-weight PAHs, while the most abundant PAHs at the FP site (6.9 ± 3.8 ng m−3) were mainly higher-molecular-weight PAHs. A diagnostic ratio analysis at both sites indicated that PAHs originated from fossil fuel combustion and traffic emissions from diesel engines, with Ant/(Ant + Phe) and Flu/(Flu + Pyr) ratios averaging 0.22 and 0.84, respectively. PMF analysis identified traffic emissions as a major source (30%), with secondary inorganic aerosols (20%) and biomass burning (14%). Polar plots highlight the dominance of local anthropogenic activities in PM pollution, with vehicular emissions, industrial activities, and biomass burning. This study shows that local sources and combustion processes significantly contribute to PM10 sources in Morocco, providing insights into air pollution mitigation in North Africa.

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“…Parent PAH ratios are widely used to identify combustionderived PAHs (Khedidji et al, 2020;Szabó et al, 2015;Tobiszewski and Namieśnik, 2012), although some of them are photochemically degraded in the atmosphere (Yunker et al, 2002). Additionally, n alkanes are employed as markers of fossil fuel or vegetation contributions to PM 2.5 .…”

Section: Component Equation Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding aerosol composition in a tropical inter-Andean valley impacted by agro-industrial and urban emissions

et al. 2022

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Abstract. Agro-industrial areas are frequently affected by various sources of atmospheric pollutants that have a negative impact on public health and ecosystems. However, air quality in these areas is infrequently monitored because of their smaller population compared to large cities, especially in developing countries. The Cauca River valley (CRV) is an agro-industrial region in southwestern Colombia, where a large fraction of the area is devoted to sugarcane and livestock production. The CRV is also affected by road traffic and industrial emissions. This study aims to elucidate the chemical composition of particulate matter fine mode (PM2.5) and to identify the main pollutant sources before source attribution. A sampling campaign was carried out at a representative site in the CRV region, where daily averaged mass concentrations of PM2.5 and the concentrations of water-soluble ions, trace metals, organic and elemental carbon, and various fractions of organic compounds (carbohydrates, n alkanes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – PAHs) were measured. The mean PM2.5 was 14.4±4.4 µg m−3, and the most abundant constituent was organic material (52.7 % ± 18.4 %), followed by sulfate (12.7 % ± 2.8 %), and elemental carbon (7.1 % ± 2.5 %), which indicates the presence of secondary aerosol formation and incomplete combustion. Levoglucosan was present in all samples, with a mean concentration of (113.8±147.2 ng m−3), revealing biomass burning as a persistent source. Mass closure using the elemental carbon (EC) tracer method explained 88.4 % on PM2.5, whereas the organic tracer method explained 70.9 % of PM2.5. We attribute this difference to the lack of information of specific organic tracers for some sources, both primary and secondary. Organic material and inorganic ions were the dominant groups of species (79 % of PM2.5). OMprim and OMsec contribute 24.2 % and 28.5 % to PM2.5. Inorganic ions as sulfate, nitrate, and ammonia constitute 19.0 %, EC 7.1 %, dust 3.5%, particle-bounded water (PBW) 5.3 %, and trace element oxides (TEOs), 0.9 % of PM2.5. The aerosol was acidic, with a pH of 2.5±0.4, mainly because of the abundance of organic and sulfur compounds. Diagnostic ratios and tracer concentrations indicate that most PM2.5 was emitted locally and had contributions of both pyrogenic and petrogenic sources, that biomass burning was ubiquitous during the sampling period and was the main source of PAHs, and that the relatively low PM2.5 concentrations and mutagenic potentials are consistent with low-intensity, year-long biomass burning (BB) and sugarcane pre-harvest burning in the CRV.

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Chemical Characterization of Marine Aerosols in a South Mediterranean Coastal Area Located in Bou Ismaïl, Algeria

Cited by 15 publications

References 79 publications

First insights into northern Africa high-altitude background aerosol chemical composition and source influences

First insights into northern Africa high-altitude background aerosol chemical composition and source influences

Influence of anthropogenic activities on metals, sugars and PAHs in PM10 in the city of Fez, Morocco: Implications on air quality

Understanding aerosol composition in a tropical inter-Andean valley impacted by agro-industrial and urban emissions

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