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Analysis and determination of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) tracers (markers) in particulate matter standard reference material (SRM 1649b, urban dust)

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Abstract

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) accounts for a significant fraction of particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere. Source identification, including the SOA fraction, is critical for the effective management of air pollution. Molecular SOA markers (tracers) are key compounds allowing the source apportionment of SOA using different methodologies. Therefore, accurate SOA marker measurements in ambient air PM are important. This study determined the concentrations of 12 key SOA markers (biogenic and anthropogenic) in the urban dust standard reference material available from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (SRM 1649b). Two extraction procedures, sonication and QuEChERS-like (quick easy cheap effective rugged and safe), have been compared. Three research laboratories/institutes using two analytical techniques (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS-MS)) carried out the analyses. The results obtained were all in good agreement, except for 2-methylerythritol. The analysis of this compound still seems to be challenging by both GC/MS (large injection repeatability) and HPLC/MS-MS (separation issues of both 2-methyltetrols: 2-methylthreitol and 2-methylerythritol). Possible inhomogeneity in the SRM for this compound could also explain the large discrepancies observed. Sonication and QuEChERS-like procedures gave comparable results for the extraction of the SOA markers showing that QuEChERS-like extraction is suitable for the analysis of SOA markers in ambient air PM. As this study provides, for the first time, indicative values in a reference material for typical SOA markers, the analysis of SRM 1649b (urban dust) could be used for quality control/assurance purposes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the French Ministry of Environment for their financial support. They also thank Siham Ayachi, Xavier Pollion (LSCE), and Jérôme Beaumont (INERIS), for their technical assistance and the chemical analyses performed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut National de l’Environnement industriel et des RISques (INERIS), Parc technologique Alata BP2, 60550, Verneuil en Halatte, France

    Alexandre Albinet, Grazia Maria Lanzafame & Deepchandra Srivastava

  2. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE), Unité Mixte CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, CEA/Orme des Merisiers, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Nicolas Bonnaire

  3. Chemical Sciences Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD, 20899, USA

    Frederica Nalin & Stephen A. Wise

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  1. Alexandre Albinet
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  2. Grazia Maria Lanzafame
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  3. Deepchandra Srivastava
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  4. Nicolas Bonnaire
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Correspondence to Alexandre Albinet.

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S. Wise and F. Nalin worked at the NIST which also provides the standard reference materials (SRM). The other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Albinet, A., Lanzafame, G.M., Srivastava, D. et al. Analysis and determination of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) tracers (markers) in particulate matter standard reference material (SRM 1649b, urban dust). Anal Bioanal Chem 411, 5975–5983 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-019-02015-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-019-02015-6

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