Urban PM source apportionment mapping using microscopic chemical imaging

To evaluate the health impacts of particulate matter and develop effective pollutant abatement strategies, one needs to know the source contributions to the observed concentrations. The most common approach involves the collection of ambient air samples on filters, laboratory analyses to quantify the chemical composition, and application of receptor modeling methods. This approach is expensive and time consuming and limits the ability to monitor the temporal and spatial impacts from different pollutant sources. An alternative method for apportioning the sources of ambient PM is the application of microscopic chemical imaging (MCI). The MCI method involves measuring individual particle's fluorescence and source attribution is based on the individual particle analysis coupled with identification from a source library. Using this approach, the apportionment of ambient PM can be performed in near real time, which allows for the generation of temporal and spatial maps of pollutant source impacts in an urban area.