Source apportionment of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) at a rural Ohio River Valley site

Abstract Twenty four-hour averaged concentrations of fine particulate matter were collected at Athens, OH between March 2004 and November 2005 in an effort to characterize the nature of PM2.5 and apportion its sources. PM2.5 samples were chemically analyzed and positive matrix factorization was applied to this speciation data to identify the probable sources. PMF arrived at a 7-factor model to most accurately apportion sources of the PM2.5 observed at Athens. Conditional probability function (CPF) and potential source contribution function (PSCF) were applied to the identified sources to investigate the geographical location of these sources. Secondary sulfate source dominated the contributions with a total contribution of 62.6% with the primary and secondary organic source following second with 19.9%. Secondary nitrate contributed a total of 6.5% with the steel production source and Pb- and Zn-source coming in at 3.1% and 2.9%, respectively. Crustal and mobile sources were small contributors (2.5% each) of PM2.5 to the Athens region. The secondary sulfate, secondary organic and nitrate portrayed a clear seasonal nature with the sulfate and secondary organic peaking in the warm months and the nitrate reaching a high in the cold months. The high percentage of secondary sulfate observed at a rural site like Athens suggests the involvement of regional transport mechanisms.

[1]  P. Hopke,et al.  Source identification for fine aerosols in Mammoth Cave National Park , 2006 .

[2]  P. Paatero.  Least squares formulation of robust non-negative factor analysis , 1997 .

[3]  J. Schauer,et al.  Emissions of metals associated with motor vehicle roadways. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[4]  W. Liu,et al.  Application of receptor modeling to atmospheric constituents at Potsdam and Stockton, NY , 2003 .

[5]  Kuruvilla John,et al.  The Regional Nature of PM2.5 Episodes in the Upper Ohio River Valley , 2004, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[6]  Philip K. Hopke,et al.  Improving source identification of Atlanta aerosol using temperature resolved carbon fractions in positive matrix factorization , 2004 .

[7]  Daniel P. Connell,et al.  Mercury, PM2.5 and gaseous co-pollutants in the Ohio River Valley region: Preliminary results from the Athens supersite , 2006 .

[8]  Ambient aerosol concentrations of elements resolved by size and by source: Contributions of some cytokine-active metals from coal- and oil-fired power plants , 2002 .

[9]  R. Burnett,et al.  The effect of the urban ambient air pollution mix on daily mortality rates in 11 Canadian cities. , 1998, Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique.

[10]  Judith C. Chow,et al.  Differences in the carbon composition of source profiles for diesel- and gasoline-powered vehicles , 1994 .

[11]  B. Mason.  Principles of geochemistry , 1958 .

[12]  Qi Ying,et al.  Source contributions to the regional distribution of secondary particulate matter in California , 2006 .

[13]  P. Hopke,et al.  Sources of fine particles in a rural midwestern U.S. area. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[14]  D. Lowenthal,et al.  Pollution Aerosol in the Northeast: Northeastern-Midwestern Contributions , 1985, Science.

[15]  Philip K Hopke,et al.  Source Apportionment of Fine Particles in Washington, DC, Utilizing Temperature-Resolved Carbon Fractions , 2004, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[16]  M. Fraser,et al.  Emissions of Organic Compounds and Trace Metals in Fine Particulate Matter from Motor Vehicles: A Tunnel Study in Houston, Texas , 2005, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[17]  Michael J Kleeman,et al.  Measurement of emissions from air pollution sources. 5. C1-C32 organic compounds from gasoline-powered motor vehicles. , 2002, Environmental science & technology.

[18]  David S. Lee,et al.  An industrial emissions inventory of calcium for Europe , 1999 .

[19]  Philip K. Hopke,et al.  Apportioning sources of PM2.5 in St. Louis, MO using speciation trends network data , 2006 .

[20]  P. Paatero,et al.  Positive matrix factorization: A non-negative factor model with optimal utilization of error estimates of data values† , 1994 .

[21]  Daniel P. Connell,et al.  The Steubenville Comprehensive Air Monitoring Program (SCAMP): Concentrations and Solubilities of PM2.5 Trace Elements and Their Implications for Source Apportionment and Health Research , 2006, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[22]  Willy Z. Sadeh,et al.  A residence time probability analysis of sulfur concentrations at grand Canyon national park , 1985 .

[23]  P. Hopke,et al.  Improving source identification of fine particles in a rural northeastern U.S. area utilizing temperature‐resolved carbon fractions , 2004 .

[24]  Richard M. Kamens,et al.  Organic aerosol growth by acid-catalyzed heterogeneous reactions of octanal in a flow reactor , 2003 .

[25]  P. Hopke,et al.  Source Identification of Atlanta Aerosol by Positive Matrix Factorization , 2003, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[26]  Yifang Zhu,et al.  Size Distribution and Diurnal and Seasonal Trends of Ultrafine Particles in Source and Receptor Sites of the Los Angeles Basin , 2002, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[27]  K. Prather,et al.  Aerosol time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry during the Atlanta Supersite Experiment: 1. Measurements , 2003 .

[28]  J. Seinfeld,et al.  Secondary organic aerosol formation and transport , 1992 .

[29]  A. Robinson,et al.  Spatial Variations of PM2.5 During the Pittsburgh Air Quality Study , 2004 .

[30]  Philip K. Hopke,et al.  Sources of fine particle composition in the northeastern US , 2001 .

[31]  M. Choël,et al.  Fast evolution of tropospheric Pb- and Zn-rich particles in the vicinity of a lead smelter , 2006 .

[32]  R. Draxler.  An Overview of the HYSPLIT_4 Modelling System for Trajectories, Dispersion, and Deposition , 1998 .

[33]  Ronald E. Hester,et al.  Receptor modeling for air quality management , 1997 .

[34]  J. Chow,et al.  The Treasure Valley secondary aerosol study I : measurements and equilibrium modeling of inorganic secondary aerosols and precursors for southwestern Idaho , 2003 .

[35]  J. Huntzicker,et al.  Secondary formation of organic aerosol in the Los Angeles basin: A descriptive analysis of organic and elemental carbon concentrations , 1991 .

[36]  P. Hopke,et al.  Application of PSCF and CPF to PMF-Modeled Sources of PM2.5 in Pittsburgh , 2006 .

[37]  J. Lewtas,et al.  Source apportionment of PM2.5 at an urban IMPROVE site in Seattle, Washington. , 2003, Environmental science & technology.