Impact of Biomass Combustion on Urban Fine Particulate Matter in Central and Northern Europe

The impact of biomass combustion on atmospheric particulate matter was investigated at Central and Northern European urban background sites (Duisburg, Prague, Amsterdam, Helsinki) in 2002–2003. In Helsinki, additional 4-week sampling campaigns were carried out during the four seasons in 2003–2004. During campaigns fine particles (PM2.5) and size-segregated samples were collected with a virtual impactor and a ten-stage Berner low-pressure impactor, respectively. From the aerosol samples monosaccharide anhydrides (MA) were determined as source specific tracers for biomass combustion. MA comprised 0.29–6.3% of the PM2.5 mass and 0.45–7.3% of its organic carbon content. According to size-segregated samples, the mean diameter of a prominent MA mode coincided with the accumulation mode of particulate mass, except for Prague where the MA mode appeared in a slightly smaller particle size range than the mass. The estimated contribution of biomass combustion to the OC and PM2.5 mass concentration was the highest in wintertime Prague, 79% and 37%, respectively. It seems that, in addition to traffic in densely populated areas, incomplete biomass combustion with current heating appliances can be a major source of particulate pollution both at local and regional scales.

[1]  B. Simoneit,et al.  Identification and emission factors of molecular tracers in organic aerosols from biomass burning Part 2. Deciduous trees , 2001 .

[2]  B. Simoneit,et al.  Identification and emission factors of molecular tracers in organic aerosols from biomass burning Part 1. Temperate climate conifers , 2001 .

[3]  B. Brunekreef,et al.  Heterogeneities in Inflammatory and Cytotoxic Responses of RAW 264.7 Macrophage Cell Line to Urban Air Coarse, Fine, and Ultrafine Particles From Six European Sampling Campaigns , 2007, Inhalation toxicology.

[4]  Sönke Szidat,et al.  Contributions of fossil fuel, biomass-burning, and biogenic emissions to carbonaceous aerosols in Zurich as traced by 14C , 2006 .

[5]  G R Cass,et al.  Measurement of emissions from air pollution sources. 3. C1-C29 organic compounds from fireplace combustion of wood. , 2001, Environmental science & technology.

[6]  R. Cary,et al.  Elemental Carbon-Based Method for Monitoring Occupational Exposures to Particulate Diesel Exhaust , 1996 .

[7]  G. Kiss,et al.  Ambient aerosol concentrations of sugars and sugar-alcohols at four different sites in Norway , 2007 .

[8]  R. Hillamo,et al.  Biomass burning signatures in the atmosphere of central , 1998 .

[9]  B. Simoneit,et al.  Identification and emission factors of molecular tracers in organic aerosols from biomass burning: Part 3. Grasses , 2006 .

[10]  M. Kleeman,et al.  Open burning of agricultural biomass: Physical and chemical properties of particle-phase emissions , 2005 .

[11]  Bengt G Järvholm,et al.  Adverse health effects from ambient air pollution in relation to residential wood combustion in modern society. , 2003, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[12]  F. Palmgren,et al.  Impact of wood combustion on particle levels in a residential area in Denmark , 2006 .

[13]  G. Cass,et al.  Chemical Characterization of Fine Particle Emissions from the Fireplace Combustion of Wood Types Grown in the Midwestern and Western United States , 2004 .

[14]  A. Berner,et al.  Mass size distributions of traffic aerosols at Vienna , 1980 .

[15]  K. Yttri,et al.  Determination of monosaccharide anhydrides in atmospheric aerosols by use of high-performance liquid chromatography combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry. , 2005, Analytical chemistry.

[16]  M. Fraser,et al.  Using Levoglucosan as a Molecular Marker for the Long-Range Transport of Biomass Combustion Aerosols , 2000 .

[17]  Alexandre Caseiro,et al.  Levoglucosan levels at background sites in Europe for assessing the impact of biomass combustion on the European aerosol background , 2007 .

[18]  G R Cass,et al.  Chemical characterization of fine particle emissions from fireplace combustion of woods grown in the northeastern United States. , 2001, Environmental science & technology.

[19]  R. Burnett,et al.  The Relationship Among TSP, PM10, PM2.5, and Inorganic Constituents of Atmospheric Participate Matter at Multiple Canadian Locations , 1997 .

[20]  Bert Brunekreef,et al.  Chemical composition and mass closure of particulate matter at six urban sites in Europe , 2006 .

[21]  J. Schauer,et al.  Highly polar organic compounds present in wood smoke and in the ambient atmosphere. , 2001, Environmental science & technology.

[22]  Glen R. Cass,et al.  Quantification of urban organic aerosols at a molecular level: Identification, abundance and seasonal variation , 1993 .

[23]  J S Lighty,et al.  Combustion Aerosols: Factors Governing Their Size and Composition and Implications to Human Health , 2000, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[24]  P. Carlier,et al.  Carboxylic acids in the troposphere, occurrence, sources, and sinks: A review , 1996 .

[25]  C. R. Purvis,et al.  Fine Particulate Matter (PM) and Organic Speciation of Fireplace Emissions , 2000 .

[26]  James J. Schauer,et al.  Source apportionment of airborne particulate matter using organic compounds as tracers , 1996 .

[27]  C. Cork,et al.  Development of High Efficiency Virtual Impactors , 1988 .

[28]  M. Claeys,et al.  Improved method for quantifying levoglucosan and related monosaccharide anhydrides in atmospheric aerosols and application to samples from urban and tropical locations. , 2002, Environmental science & technology.

[29]  P. Buseck,et al.  Atmospheric tar balls: Particles from biomass and biofuel burning , 2003 .

[30]  B. Simoneit,et al.  Biomass burning — a review of organic tracers for smoke from incomplete combustion , 2002 .

[31]  R. Hillamo,et al.  A study of size-segregated aerosol chemistry in the Antarctic atmosphere , 2000 .

[32]  Leiv Håvard Slørdal,et al.  Quantification of Monosaccharide Anhydrides by Liquid Chromatography Combined with Mass Spectrometry: Application to Aerosol Samples from an Urban and a Suburban Site Influenced by Small-Scale Wood Burning , 2005, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[33]  Timo Mäkelä,et al.  SOURCES AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF ATMOSPHERIC FINE AND COARSE PARTICLES IN THE HELSINKI AREA , 2001 .

[34]  R. Hillamo,et al.  Use of atmospheric elemental size distributions in estimating aerosol sources in the Helsinki area , 2001 .

[35]  B. Brunekreef,et al.  Dose and Time Dependency of Inflammatory Responses in the Mouse Lung to Urban Air Coarse, Fine, and Ultrafine Particles From Six European Cities , 2007, Inhalation toxicology.

[36]  J. Hajšlová,et al.  Alternative calibration approaches to compensate the effect of co-extracted matrix components in liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry analysis of pesticide residues in plant materials. , 2002, Journal of chromatography. A.

[37]  M. Brauer,et al.  Woodsmoke Health Effects: A Review , 2007, Inhalation toxicology.

[38]  T. Nunes,et al.  Carbonaceous aerosols in industrial and coastal atmospheres , 1993 .

[39]  Christopher G. Nolte,et al.  Levoglucosan, a tracer for cellulose in biomass burning and atmospheric particles , 1999 .

[40]  H. Hansson,et al.  Size distribution of biogenic aerosol particles from the amazon basin , 1995 .

[41]  M. Sillanpää,et al.  Composition and origins of aerosol during a high PM 10 episode in Finland , 2004 .

[42]  Ari Karppinen,et al.  Statistical model for assessing the portion of fine particulate matter transported regionally and long range to urban air. , 2004, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[43]  Christer Johansson,et al.  Is Levoglucosan a Suitable Quantitative Tracer for Wood Burning? Comparison with Receptor Modeling on Trace Elements in Lycksele, Sweden , 2006, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[44]  J. Kukkonen,et al.  Analysis and evaluation of selected local-scale PM10 air pollution episodes in four European cities: Helsinki, London, Milan and Oslo , 2005 .

[45]  Michel Legrand,et al.  Summary of the CARBOSOL project: Present and retrospective state of organic versus inorganic aerosol over Europe , 2007 .

[46]  P. Artaxo,et al.  Aerosol emissions by tropical forest and savanna biomass burning: Characteristic trace elements and fluxes , 1995 .

[47]  A. Frey,et al.  European Geosciences Union Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Organic, elemental and inorganic carbon in particulate matter of six urban environments in Europe , 2005 .