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Semi-continuous sampling of health relevant atmospheric particle subfractions for chemical speciation using a rotating drum impactor in series with sequential filter sampler

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Abstract

To achieve unattended continuous long-term (eg., 1 week) sampling of size-segregated 24-h ambient particulate matter (PM), a sampling strategy of a modified 3-stage rotating drum impactor (RDI) in series with a sequential filter sampler was introduced and verified in a field campaign. Before the field sampling, lab experiment was conducted to test the collection efficiency of the third stage of the RDI using the quartz-fiber filter (QFF) as the substrate. The measured value is 0.36 μm, which is larger than the nominal value 0.1 μm. A fast direct analysis of organic species in all size fractions (<0.36, 0.36–1, 1–2.4, and 2.4–10 μm) of 24-h ambient samples was done using in situ derivatization thermal desorption gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (IDTD-GC-TOFMS). A few secondary originated polar markers (dicarboxylic acids, cis-pinonic acid, etc.) were introduced and evaluated using this method for the first time and quantified simultaneously with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the filter samples (<0.36 μm). For the other RDI strip samples (0.36–1, 1–2.4, and 2.4–10 μm), PAH and levoglucosan were quantified. The comparability of two such sampler sets was verified with respect to the PM collection profile of the two RDIs as well as measured concentration of chemical compounds in each sampled size fraction, so that a future epidemiological study on the relationship between the finest PM/its chemical composition and health outcome could be carried out through parallel sampling at two sites. The internal correlations between the size-segregated organic compounds are discussed. Besides, the correlations between the size-segregated organic species and size-segregated particulate number concentration (PNC) as well as meteorological parameter are discussed as well.

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Acknowledgments

This study was carried out within the framework of the project entitled “ENVIRONMENTAL NANOPARTICLES AND HEALTH: Exposure, Modeling and Epidemiology of Nanoparticles and their Composition within KORA” founded by Helmholtz Zentrum München. Additionally, Fengxia Li’s PhD work is funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) under the State Scholarship Fund (File No. 2011601049). The authors would like to thank for this funding. We would also like to thank Dr. Yoshiteru Iinuma from the Leibniz-Institute of Troposperic Research, Leipzig, Germany, for providing the 3-MBTCA standard to enable our identification.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Joint Mass Spectrometry Center, Cooperation Group Comprehensive Molecular Analytics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany

    Fengxia Li, Jürgen Schnelle-Kreis, Erwin Karg, Jürgen Orasche, Gülcin Abbaszade & Ralf Zimmermann

  2. Joint Mass Spectrometry Center, Chair of Analytical Chemistry, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Fengxia Li, Jürgen Orasche & Ralf Zimmermann

  3. Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany

    Josef Cyrys & Annette Peters

  4. Environmental Science Center (WZU), University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany

    Josef Cyrys & Jianwei Gu

  5. Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Annette Peters

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  1. Fengxia Li
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  2. Jürgen Schnelle-Kreis
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  3. Erwin Karg
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Correspondence to Jürgen Schnelle-Kreis.

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Responsible editor: Gerhard Lammel

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Li, F., Schnelle-Kreis, J., Karg, E. et al. Semi-continuous sampling of health relevant atmospheric particle subfractions for chemical speciation using a rotating drum impactor in series with sequential filter sampler. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 7278–7287 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5945-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5945-x

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