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Organic and elemental carbon filter sets: preparation method and interlaboratory results
Ming Chai1, M Eileen Birch, Greg Deye
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA.
The Annals of Occupational Hygiene
|March 31, 2012
Summary
A new method for creating reference materials for carbonaceous aerosols improves accuracy in measuring organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC). This standardization helps reduce measurement uncertainty in climate and air quality studies.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Analytical Chemistry
- Atmospheric Science
Background:
- Carbonaceous aerosols significantly impact climate, visibility, air quality, and human health.
- Accurate measurement of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) fractions is crucial but challenging due to method discrepancies and lack of reference materials.
- Existing thermal analysis methods show variability in OC and EC determination, primarily due to pyrolysis and charring of OC.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a standardized method for generating reference filter sets with known OC-EC content.
- To assess the accuracy and reproducibility of OC-EC measurements using these reference materials.
- To facilitate method standardization and reduce bias in carbonaceous aerosol analysis.
Main Methods:
- A novel, simple method for generating matched filter sets with controlled OC-EC content was developed.
- These filter sets were analyzed to confirm uniformity and then distributed to six independent laboratories for interlaboratory comparison.
- Participants measured total carbon (TC), OC, and EC using their standard thermal analysis methods.
Main Results:
- Analytical results confirmed uniform carbon distribution across the generated filter sets.
- Good agreement was observed between the seven participating laboratories, indicating high reproducibility.
- Relative standard deviations (RSDs) for mean TC, OC, and EC across laboratories were generally low (<10-12%), with individual lab RSDs also below 12% for most measurements.
Conclusions:
- The developed filter generation method is applicable and reproducible for creating reference materials for carbonaceous aerosols.
- These matched filter sets can be effectively used to assess the accuracy of OC-EC measurement methods.
- The approach contributes significantly to the standardization of OC-EC analysis, improving reliability in environmental and workplace monitoring.
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