Low molecular weight dicarboxylic acids in PM10 in a city with intensive solid fuel burning

In this work, PM(10) samples were collected in a winter and a summer in Christchurch, a New Zealand city having intensive wood and coal burning and a serious air pollution problem in winter. Oxalic, malonic, succinic, maleic, glutaric and adipic acids in the samples were analysed using ion chromatography. It was suggested that solid fuel burning had large influence on the occurrence of these low molecular weight dicarboxylic acids resulting in significantly higher wintertime concentrations of maleic acid, oxalic acid and glutaric or adipic acid. The most pronounced feature observed was that maleic acid was the second most abundant species of the detected DCAs in the winter (with a mean of 74 ngm(-3) and the highest concentration ever reported of 231 ngm(-3)). In contrast, malonic acid experienced a low abundance in both seasons. The observed seasonal patterns and molecular distribution were inconsistent with those in most other urban areas. On an average, the total detected dicarboxylic acids accounted for about 0.5% of PM(10) mass with a maximum of 1.4% in the winter. The relative importance of different sources to individual dicarboxylic acids varied with seasons and is discussed in detail.