Organic chemical characterization of size segregated particulate matter samples collected from a thermal power plant area.

Organic chemical characterization of size segregated particulate matter samples collected from a thermal power plant area. Environ Pollut. 2020 Jul;262:114360 Authors: Ari PE, Ari A, Dumanoğlu Y, Odabasi M, Gaga EO Abstract Kütahya city, a thermal power plant (TPPs) affected region of Turkey, has serious air quality problems like similar industrial regions of the world due to the emissions from three closely-located coal-fired TPPs, residential coal combustion along with the contribution of several industrial stacks. The organic chemical speciation of ambient size-segregated particulate matter (PM) was investigated during two seasons at two sites with different pollution characteristics (urban and rural). The ambient PM was collected using a high volume cascade impactor, with 6 stages: PM>10.2, PM10.2-4.2, PM4.2-2.1, PM2.1-1.3, PM1.3-0.69 and PM<0.69. Collected PM samples were extracted with organic solvents and the organic composition (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), n-alkanes and carboxylic acids) was determined by GC-MS. Sources of the organic species were assessed using molecular PAH diagnostic ratios, carbon preference index and wax percentages. More than 70% of the PM-bound PAHs were quantified in submicron particles. Similarly, 34-42% of n-alkanes and approximately 30% of the carboxylic acids were found on the smallest particles. The main sources of the PM-bound organic species were considered as the anthropog...
Source: Environmental Pollution - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Environ Pollut Source Type: research