Biomass burning — a review of organic tracers for smoke from incomplete combustion

A review has been written to assess the sources, fate and behavior of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the atmosphere. PAH are formed mainly by anthropogenic processes, especially the combustion of organic fuels. PAH concentration in air will reflect the location of source emitters, with high concentrations corresponding with urban and industrial areas. PAH are however ubiquitous contaminants of the environment having been detected in remote areas of the world. This is thought to be due to long term transport in the atmosphere. PAH can also be subjected to chemical and/ or photochemical change whilst resident in the atmosphere prior to their removal by either wet or dry deposition.

A review of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons : sources, fate and behavior

Quantification of urban organic aerosols at a molecular level: Identification, abundance and seasonal variation

Global phthalate ester production has increased from very low levels at the end of World War II to approximately 3.5 million metric tons/year. The aim of the present study was to investigate potent...

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The Association between Asthma and Allergic Symptoms in Children and Phthalates in House Dust : A Nested Case-Control Study

Atmospheric aerosol particles are known to contain organic carbon material in variable amounts, depending on their location. In some parts of the world, organic compounds make up the majority of the total suspended particle mass. This class of particulate matter is important in a wide range of geophysical and environmental problems, ranging from local issues (e.g., pollution toxicity) to the global scale (e.g., climate change). Unfortunately, the richness of organic chemistry and the highly variable physical properties associated with both natural and anthropogenic organic particles lead to great difficulties in sampling and obtaining complete chemical information on these materials. These obstacles result in an incomplete picture of a potentially significant part of atmospheric chemistry and a correspondingly poor understanding of the geophysical and environmental effects of this aerosol. Given the paucity of quantitative molecular data, the purpose of this paper is not to quantitatively describe the importance of organic aerosols in environmental issues, but rather to present a basis for defining what data are needed. With this goal in mind, we begin with an overview of the major environmental issues known to be affected by organic aerosols, followed by a description of the distribution, sources, and chemical and physical properties of organic aerosols as they are currently understood. Methods used to collect and study organic aerosols are provided, followed by a list of outstanding scientific questions and suggestions for future research priorities.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/1998RG000045

Organic atmospheric aerosols: Review and state of the science

Experiments on the distribution of organic pollutants between airborne particulate matter and the corresponding gas phase

Determination of organic compounds in airborne particulate matter by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

On the aliphatic and polyaromatic hydrocarbon levels in urban and background aerosols from belgium and the netherlands

Comparison between the organic fraction of suspended matter at a background and an urban station

The extraction of organic compounds from airborne particulate matter, obtained by glass fiber filtration, has been studied with different solvents and has been followed as a function of time. For many compounds, almost quantitative extraction was obtained after S h. Polyaromatic hydrocarbons and polar compounds often yielded higher extraction efficiencies with methanol than with benzene. The gas chromatographic mass spectrometric determination of these compounds is somewhat simplified by a separation of the sample into neutral, acidic and basic fractions. The efficiency of this procedure was tested on a mixture of compounds representative for the actual aerosol composition. It was concluded that the basic fraction yielded poor results. The techniques for these measurements included quantitative gas chromatography with electronic integration for standard mixtures and quantitative mass chromatography for natural sample extracts.

W. Cautreels

Papers

Experiments on the distribution of organic pollutants between airborne particulate matter and the corresponding gas phase

Determination of organic compounds in airborne particulate matter by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

On the aliphatic and polyaromatic hydrocarbon levels in urban and background aerosols from belgium and the netherlands

Comparison between the organic fraction of suspended matter at a background and an urban station

Extraction of organic compounds from airborne particulate matter