title: Size-Resolved Identification, Characterization, and Quantification of Primary Biological Organic Aerosol at a European Rural Site.
abstract: Primary biological organic aerosols (PBOA) represent a major component of the coarse organic matter (OMCOARSE, aerodynamic diameter > 2.5 μm). Although this fraction affects human health and the climate, its quantification and chemical characterization currently remain elusive. We present the first quantification of the entire PBOACOARSE mass and its main sources by analyzing size-segregated filter samples collected during the summer and winter at the rural site of Payerne (Switzerland), representing a continental Europe background environment. The size-segregated water-soluble OM was analyzed by a newly developed offline aerosol mass spectrometric technique (AMS). Collected spectra were analyzed by three-dimensional positive matrix factorization (3D-PMF), showing that PBOA represented the main OMCOARSE source during summer and its contribution to PM10 was comparable to that of secondary organic aerosol. We found substantial cellulose contributions to OMCOARSE, which in combination with gas chromatography mass spectrometry molecular markers quantification, underlined the predominance of plant debris. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis instead revealed that the sum of bacterial and fungal spores mass represented only a minor OMCOARSE fraction (<0.1%). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis of C and N binding energies throughout the size fractions revealed an organic N increase in the PM10 compared to PM1 consistent with AMS observations.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bozzetti
authors.forename: Kaspar R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Daellenbach
authors.affiliation: Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, EMPA , Dübendorf 8600, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hueglin
authors.affiliation: Università degli Studi di Milano , Milano 20133, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fermo
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE, CNRS-CEA-UVSQ , Gif-sur-Yvette 91190, France.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sciare
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics, Vienna University of Technology , Wien 1060, Austria.
authors.forename: Anneliese
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kasper-Giebl
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Yinon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mazar
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Joint Mass Spectrometry Centre, Cooperation Group Comprehensive Molecular Analytics , 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Gülcin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Abbaszade
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Kazzi
authors.affiliation: Università degli Studi di Milano , Milano 20133, Italy.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Timor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shuster-Meiseles
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics, Vienna University of Technology , Wien 1060, Austria.
authors.forename: Mira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flasch
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Adéla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Křepelová
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Canonaco
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Joint Mass Spectrometry Centre, Cooperation Group Comprehensive Molecular Analytics , 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schnelle-Kreis
authors.forename: Jay G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Slowik
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Joint Mass Spectrometry Centre, Cooperation Group Comprehensive Molecular Analytics , 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.|Analytical Chemistry & Joint Mass Spectrometry Centre, Institute of Chemistry, University of Rostock , 18051 Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Yinon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rudich
authors.forename: Urs
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Baltensperger
authors.forename: Imad
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: El Haddad
authors.forename: André S H
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Prévôt
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis*; D000391:Air Microbiology; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D013557:Switzerland
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D002241:Carbohydrates; D052638:Particulate Matter