title: Five primary sources of organic aerosols in the urban atmosphere of Belgrade (Serbia).
abstract: Biomass burning and primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs) represent important primary sources of organic compounds in the atmosphere. These particles and compounds are able to affect climate and human health. In the present work, using HPLC-orbitrapMS, we determined the atmospheric concentrations of molecular markers such as anhydrosugars and phenolic compounds that are specific for biomass burning, as well as the concentrations of sugars, alcohol sugars and d- and l-amino acids (D-AAs and L-AAs) for studying PBAPs in Belgrade (Serbia) aerosols collected in September-December 2008. In these samples, high levels of all these biomarkers were observed in October. Relative percentages of vanillic (V), syringic compounds (S) and p-coumaric acid (PA), as well as levoglucosan/mannosan (L/M) ratios, helped us discriminate between open fire events and wood combustion for domestic heating during the winter. L-AAs and D-AAs (1% of the total) were observed in Belgrade aerosols mainly in September-October. During open fire events, mean D-AA/L-AA (D/L) ratio values of aspartic acid, threonine, phenylalanine, alanine were significantly higher than mean D/L values of samples unaffected by open fire. High levels of AAs were observed for open biomass burning events. Thanks to four different statistical approaches, we demonstrated that Belgrade aerosols are affected by five sources: a natural source, a source related to fungi spores and degraded material and three other sources linked to biomass burning: biomass combustion in open fields, the combustion of grass and agricultural waste and the combustion of biomass in stoves and industrial plants. The approach employed in this work, involving the determination of specific organic tracers and statistical analysis, proved useful to discriminate among different types of biomass burning events.
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes CNR, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy. Electronic address: roberta.zangrando@idpa.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zangrando
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes CNR, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy; Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barbaro
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes CNR, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy; Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy; Institute of Sustainable and Environmental Chemistry, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lüneburg 21335, Germany.
authors.forename: Torben
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kirchgeorg
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes CNR, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy; Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vecchiato
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scalabrin
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radaelli
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy - Centre of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, 11158 Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Dragana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Đorđević
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes CNR, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barbante
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes CNR, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy; Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, (VE), Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gambaro
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis*; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000032:analysis*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis*; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D055771:Serbia
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Aerosol primary sources; Biomass burning; PBAPs; PMF; Urban aerosols