Ionic composition of aerosols at Northwestern Turkey

In this study, ionic compositions of 350 aerosol samples collected between April 2006 and May 2008 in a rural area at Northwestern Turkey (Black Sea coast of Turkey) were discussed. Ions accounted for approximately 30% of PM mass. Contributions of secondary aerosol species (NO3−, SO42− and NH42+) were higher than the ions with crustal origin. This indicated that sampling station was under the influence of long range transport because there were no industrial emissions around. Concentrations of ions demonstrated a large variation from day to day. Mann–Whitney W test was applied to compare the medians of summer and winter concentrations of ions. All ions, except for NH42+ and SO42−, showed statistically significant difference between seasons with 95% confidence level.