Fine particles sampled at an urban background site and an industrialized coastal site in Northern France—Part 2: Comparison of offline and online analyses for carbonaceous aerosols

Abstract

Particulate matter was sampled in Northern France during two summer and winter periods at both an urban background site (Douai, DO) and an industrialized coastal site (Grande-Synthe, GS). Ambient levels of particulate carbonaceous species and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) were measured by real-time measurements and via collection and analysis of offline filters (F). The comparison between online organic matter (OM) measured by an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and organic carbon (OC) determined by an offline thermal-optical method showed good linear trends in wintertime GS (r 2 D 0.82 while only 0.50 in summer), and DO (r 2 D 0.86 in summer and 0.92 in winter). However, significant differences were observed between analytical methods and sites with OC AMS /OC F ratios decreasing from 0.80 in DO during winter to 0.20 for GS in summer, suggesting that a large part of OM could be in the PM 1-PM 2.5 fraction. The simultaneous measurements of Black Carbon (BC) and Elemental Carbon (EC) concentrations in PM 2.5 were also well correlated at both sites with r 2 D 0.61-0.97 and slopes between 0.6 and 0.8. PAHs were analyzed in PM 2.5 and also measured online by AMS in PM 1. Their wintertime concentrations were highly correlated in DO (r 2 D 0.98) and to a lesser degree in GS (r 2 D 0.67). r 2 values determined for comparison between online and offline parameters (OC and PAHs) in GS were lower than in DO, probably due to a more complex aerosol composition and a higher variability of the physical and chemical properties resulting from the coastal situation and diversity of emission sources in the vicinity of GS.

Real-time assessment of wintertime organic aerosol characteristics and sources at a suburban site in northern France

“…The contribution of Cl was particularly low (1.0%, 0.23 µg m -3 ) throughout the campaign, and hence will not be further discussed. Previous studies in northern France carried out in winter also observed similar compositions for NR-PM 1 (Crenn et al, 2017b(Crenn et al, , 2017a;…”

“…These values are consistent with previous wintertime observations at urban sites in France (Chakraborty et al, in prep. ;Crenn et al, 2017b;Crippa et al, 2013).…”

“…Several AMS-PMF studies have shown that OA can typically be separated into secondary or oxygenated OA (OOA), and several primary OA types like hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA), biomass burning OA (BBOA) and cooking OA (COA), depending on the site location and sampling season (Bozzetti et al, 2017;Crippa et al, 2014;Florou et al, 2017;Lanz et al, 2010;Mohr et al, 2012;Poulain et al, 2011;Saarikoski et al, 2012;Timonen et al, 2013). In France, a few studies have focused on the OA sources and characteristics using real-time measurements in Paris (Crippa et al, 2013), Marseille (Bozzetti et al, 2017), and in the north of France in Douai and Dunkirk which showed that winter OA was moderately oxidized and mostly composed of OOA, while significant contributions of BBOA, HOA and sulfur-containing OA (SCOA) were also found (Crenn et al, 2017a(Crenn et al, , 2017b.…”

Near real-time PM1 chemical composition measurements at a French urban background and coastal site under industrial influence over more than a year: Temporal variability and assessment of sulfur-containing emissions

“…Previous studies focusing on particulate matter in Dunkirk have investigated concentrations in heavy metals (Alleman et al 2010, Mbengue et al 2014) and inorganic species (Rimetz-Planchon et al 2008) in PM10. The organic fraction has also been studied in PM2.5 using offline filter methods (Cazier et al 2011, Crenn et al 2017, Crenn et al 2018 and in PM1 using an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) (Crenn et al 2017, Crenn et al 2018, Setyan et al 2019. PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) and sulfate in NR-PM1 have been found almost exclusively in winter for air masses coming from the industrial zone.…”

Exposure to Atmospheric Ultrafine Particles Induces Severe Lung Inflammatory Response and Tissue Remodeling in Mice

“…The extract was gently evaporated for enrichment under a stream of nitrogen in a TurboVap II water bath kept at 60 °C (Zymark, Roissy, France) to a final volume of 500–1000 µL. The analytical methodology, detailed elsewhere [35], use a high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) consisting of a Waters 2695 Alliance system (Waters SA, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France) coupled to an on-line 996-photodiode array and a 2475-fluorimetric detector. Recovery efficiencies and analytical detection limits were estimated for each PAH using a certified material (i.e., NIST SRM-1649a, Urban Dust).…”