Estimation of local and external contributions of biomass burning to PM2.5in an industrial zone included in a large urban settlement.
A total of 85 PM2.5samples were collected at a site located in a large industrial zone (Porto Marghera, Venice, Italy) during a 1-year-long sampling campaign. Samples were analyzed to determine water-soluble inorganic ions, elemental and organic carbon, and levoglucosan, and results were processed to investigate the seasonal patterns, the relationship between the analyzed species, and the most probable sources by using a set of tools, including (i) conditional probability function (CPF), (ii) conditional bivariate probability function (CBPF), (iii) concentration weighted trajectory (CWT), and (iv) potential source contribution function (PSCF) analyses. Furthermore, the importance of biomass combustions to PM2.5was also estimated. Average PM2.5concentrations ranged between 54 and 16 μg m-3in the cold and warm period, respectively. The mean value of total ions was 11 μg m-3(range 1-46 μg m-3): The most abundant ion was nitrate with a share of 44 % followed by sulfate (29 %), ammonium (14 %), potassium (4 %), and chloride (4 %). Levoglucosan accounted for 1.2 % of the PM2.5mass, and its concentration ranged from few ng m-3in warm periods to 2.66 μg m-3during winter. Average concentrations of levoglucosan during the cold period were higher than those found in other European urban sites. This result may indicate a great influence of biomass combustions on particulate matter pollution. Elemental and organic carbon (EC, OC) showed similar behavior, with the highest contributions during cold periods and lower during summer. The ratios between biomass burning indicators (K+, Cl-, NO3-, SO42-, levoglucosan, EC, and OC) were used as proxy for the biomass burning estimation, and the contribution to the OC and PM2.5was also calculated by using the levoglucosan (LG)/OC and LG/PM2.5ratios and was estimated to be 29 and 18 %, respectively.
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Università Ca' Foscari, Via Torino 155, 30172, Venezia Mestre, Italy.
Francesca
F
Benetello
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Università Ca' Foscari, Via Torino 155, 30172, Venezia Mestre, Italy.
Stefania
S
Squizzato
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Università Ca' Foscari, Via Torino 155, 30172, Venezia Mestre, Italy.
Angelika
A
Hofer
Center for Air Resources Engineering and Science, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, 13699, USA.
Mauro
M
Masiol
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Università Ca' Foscari, Via Torino 155, 30172, Venezia Mestre, Italy.
Md Badiuzzaman
MB
Khan
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Università di Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, 20126, Milan, Italy.
Andrea
A
Piazzalunga
Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Golgi 19, 20133, Milan, Italy.
Paola
P
Fermo
Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale del Veneto, Dipartimento Provinciale di Venezia, via Lissa 6, 30174, Venezia Mestre, Italy.
Gian Maria
GM
Formenton
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Università Ca' Foscari, Via Torino 155, 30172, Venezia Mestre, Italy.
Giancarlo
G
Rampazzo
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Università Ca' Foscari, Via Torino 155, 30172, Venezia Mestre, Italy. brown@unive.it.
Bruno
B
Pavoni
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005390:Fires; D005947:Glucose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D007558:Italy; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D012621:Seasons
D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; C014989:1,6-anhydro-beta-glucopyranose; D002244:Carbon; D005947:Glucose
Biomass burning; Inorganic ions; Levoglucosan; OC/EC ratio; PM2.5