Characterization of atmospheric aerosol (PM10 and PM2.5) from a medium sized city in São Paulo state, Brazil.

Air pollution causes deleterious effects on human health with aerosols being among the most polluting agents. The objective of this work is the characterization of the PM2.5 and PM10 aerosol mass in the atmosphere. The methods of analysis include WD-XRF and EDS. Data were correlated with meteorological information and air mass trajectories (model HYSPLIT) by multivariate analysis. A morphological structural analysis was also carried out to identify the probable sources of atmospheric aerosols in the city of São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. The mean mass concentration values obtained were 24.54 µg/m3 for PM10, above the WHO annual standard value of 20 µg/m3 and 10.88 µg/m3 for PM2.5 whose WHO recommended limit is 10 µg/m3. WD-XRF analysis of the samples revealed Si and Al as major components of the coarse fraction. In the fine fraction, the major elements were Al and S. The SEM-FEG characterization allowed identifying the morphology of the particles in agglomerates, ellipsoids and filaments in the PM10, besides spherical in the PM2.5. The analysis by EDS corroborated WD-XRF results, identifying the crustal elements, aluminosilicates and elements of anthropogenic origin in the coarse fraction. For the fine fraction crustal elements were also identified; aluminosilicates, black carbon and spherical particles (C and O) originating from combustion processes were predominant. The use of multivariate analysis to correlate air mass trajectories with the results of the morpho-structural characterization of the particulate matter allowed confirmation of the complex composition of the particles resulting from the combination of both local and long-distance sources.

Evaluation of the performance of the determination of anions in the water soluble fraction of atmospheric aerosols.

The knowledge of the mass of particulate matter in air, its chemical composition and emission sources is of relevance for taking decisions concerning air quality management in urban areas. The interpretation of these data is a function of the quality of the measurement results expressed by their uncertainties. This study aimed at developing models of the performance of the determination of anions in the water-soluble fraction of atmospheric aerosols, capable of determining, separately, the contribution of aerosols sampling, extraction of water-soluble fraction of atmospheric aerosols and quantification, by ion chromatography, of anions in the extract. The sampling procedure was assessed from the dispersion of results of duplicate parallel sampling after subtracting the analytical component of this dispersion. These models are used to evaluate the adequacy of the measurement procedure for the determination of urban aerosol composition and to support strategies for reducing measurement uncertainty or cost of analysis. The method performance was studied for the following ranges considering extract dilution up to five times: 0.23-8 µg m(-3) for chloride and nitrate, and 0.093-3.25 µg m(-3) for sulphate. Measurements are fit for the analysis of urban aerosols since the relative expanded measurement uncertainty is smaller than a maximum value of 40%. The percentage contribution of the uncertainty components varies with the analyte and its mass concentration, the major components being 24-93% for the extraction, 43-59% for sampling, 0.2-28% for the interpolation of the sample signal in the calibration curve and 4-8% for air volume measurement. The typical composition of analysed air is: (1.12±0.26) µg m(-3), (1.02±0.30) µg m(-3) and (0.76±0.22) µg m(-3) of chloride, nitrate and sulphate in the water soluble fraction of aerosol, respectively, for a confidence level of approximately 95% considering a coverage factor of 2.