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Analysis of size-segregated samples from vehicular exhaust using laser microprobe mass spectrometry

1992; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 50; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0424820100133175

2690-1315

Stephen Hoeft, Robert A. Fletcher,

Air Quality and Health Impacts

Because of their potential adverse health effects, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are significant environmental pollutants. Many studies have demonstrated the presence of PAHs in vehicular exhaust by using chromatographic analysis techniques on filter samples. Most of these studies do not correlate the aerosol size distribution with that of the composition and occurrence of the PAHs, other than collecting the aerosol into a 'coarse' and a 'fine' (< 2.5 μm diameter) fraction and then determining the PAH content for each fraction. The goal of this study is to characterize the 'fine' fraction aerosol by further segregating it into six size fractions and then using laser microprobe mass spectrometry (LMMS) to analyze each fraction. Samples were collected from the exhaust rooms of traffic tunnels at the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland. This highway tunnel complex separates heavy diesels (trucks) from automobiles. Since each traffic tunnel is independently ventilated, it is possible to collect samples of emissions from either type of vehicular traffic.