engleski

Levels of carbohydrates in PM1 particulate matter emitted during wintertime

Most epidemiological studies regarding air quality and human health effects are performed on fine and coarse particles, as they are regulated by air quality directives. In recent years, ultrafine par-ticles have been recognized as crucial because of their ability to reach the most distal lung regions and greatly impact the cardiovascular system. To get a better understanding of the health effects, it is important to determine the ultrafine particle composition in as much detail as possible since every compound has different chemical and physical properties.This study focused on carbohydrates that represent water- soluble organic compounds. The pre-sence of carbohydrates in the particulate matter can be caused by various sources, of which the most common is biomass combustion. Anhydrosugars, specifically levoglucosan, mannosan, and galactosan, which are formed by thermal cellulose and hemicellulose breakdown, are considered specific and general tracers for biomass burning emissions. Other carbohydrate sources are plants, spores, and bacteria, whose activity forms sugar alcohols and primary sugars.The present study aims to investigate levels of carbohydrates in PM1 samples collected during win-tertime at an urban background station. Twelve carbohydrates were examined and the results were compared with concentrations obtained from PM10 particulate matter analysis. Results showed that anhydrosugars are the most abundant, followed by sugar alcohols and sugars, respectively. Levoglucosan was the most dominant compound in both fractions and it was found that more than 90% of levoglucosan in the PM10 fraction is bound to the PM1 fraction. Because of the mutual pollution source, the results were compared with concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hy-drocarbons in the PM1 and PM10 fractions. Spearman correlation showed a very strong correlation (r > 0.82) in PM1 fraction between levoglucosan, mannosan, galactosan, ΣPAH, benzo[a]pyrene, arabitol, and erythritol which implies a common origin of these compounds. Factor analysis revea-led two main pollution sources in both of the fractions.

levoglucosan ; Anhydrosugars ; PM1

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