Is fossil fuel combustion still a major contributor to atmospheric aerosol carbonaceous fractions in the Po Valley? Results from a 14C-based source apportionment.
F. Salteri, F. Crova, S. Barone, G. Calzolai, A. Forello, M. Fedi, L. Liccioli, D. Massabò, F. Mazzei, P. Prati, G. Valli, R. Vecchi, V. Bernardoni
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
14C measurements on the carbonaceous fractions of atmospheric aerosol are an important tool for source apportionment. In this paper, a 14C-based source apportionment study was carried out on samples collected during winter 2021 at an urban background site in the Po Valley, one of the main pollution hot-spot areas in Europe. The samples were prepared using MISSMARPLE (MIlan Small-SaMple Automated Radiocarbon Preparation LinE for atmospheric aerosol), a recently developed sample preparation line for 14C measurements on atmospheric aerosol carbon fractions, specifically targeting small samples (about 50 μgC). 14C-based source apportionment was performed separately for elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC), after suitable optimization of model parameters. As this is the first source apportionment study using MISSMARPLE-prepared samples, our results were compared with other tracers and source apportionment outcomes obtained through parallel methodologies, demonstrating strong correlations in all tests (R > 0.87). The source apportionment results showed that fossil fuel combustion remains the main source of EC in the investigated area (60%), while modern contributions generally dominate the OC fraction (66%). However, some episodes were identified where fossil fuel combustion was the dominant contributor also to the OC fraction (up to 66%). During these episodes, the importance of secondary OC formation from fossil fuel combustion was highlighted through the EC-tracer approach. Thus, fossil fuel combustion is still a significant source of carbonaceous aerosol in the Po Valley during the winter. Both primary emissions and gaseous precursors must be targeted by future abatement policies to effectively reduce pollution in the area.
期刊介绍:
Environmental Pollution is an international peer-reviewed journal that publishes high-quality research papers and review articles covering all aspects of environmental pollution and its impacts on ecosystems and human health.
Subject areas include, but are not limited to:
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• Contaminants of emerging concerns (including but not limited to antibiotic resistant microorganisms or genes, microplastics/nanoplastics, electronic wastes, light, and noise) and/or their biological, ecological, or human health effects;
• Laboratory and field studies on the remediation/mitigation of environmental pollution via new techniques and with clear links to biological, ecological, or human health effects;
• Modeling of pollution processes, patterns, or trends that is of clear environmental and/or human health interest;
• New techniques that measure and examine environmental occurrences, transport, behavior, and effects of pollutants within the environment or the laboratory, provided that they can be clearly used to address problems within regional or global environmental compartments.