Semi volatile organic compounds in ambient PM2.5. Seasonal trends and daily resolved source contributions

Concentrations of ambient semivolatile organic compounds (SVOC) in the PM2.5 fraction of Augsburg, Germany, have been monitored on a daily basis from January 2003 through December 2004. Samples were taken in a large garden in the city center. Quantitative analysis of n-alkanes, alkanones, alkanoic acid methylesters, long chain linear alkyl benzenes and toluenes, hopanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and oxidized PAH, and some abietan type diterpenes was done. All compounds showed distinct seasonal variations in concentration. Most compounds showed highest concentrations during the cold seasons, but some n-alkanones and 6,10,14-trimethylpentadecanone showed maximum concentration during summer. Changes in patterns between and within compound classes were obvious, e.g., the hopane pattern exhibited a strong seasonal variation. The main source related contributions to changes observed were discussed. Using positive matrix factorization (PMF) for the statistical investigation of the data set, five factors have been separated. These factors are dominated by the pattern of single sources or groups of similar sources: factor 1, lubricating oil; factor 2, emissions of unburned diesel and heating oil consumption; factor 3, wood combustion; factor 4, brown coal combustion; and factor 5, biogenic emissions and transport components. Like the SVOC, the factors showed strong seasonality with highest values in winter for factors 1-4 and in summer for factor 5.