Analysis of PM2.5 in Córdoba, Argentina under the effects of the El Niño Southern Oscillation

LANZACO, BETHANIA L.; OLCESE, LUIS E.; QUEROL, XAVIER; TOSELLI, BEATRIZ M.

ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2017 vol. 171 p. 49 - 49

1352-2310

n this work, PM2.5 samples were collected in the winter-spring months of 2014?2016 at an urban site in Córdoba. Córdoba is the second largest city in Argentina and is an important industrial and touristic center. The collected samples were individually analyzed for chemical composition using different techniques. The soluble inorganic ions and carbonaceous particles were determined from bulk aerosol samples for the first time in the city. The mass concentrations of PM2.5, organic carbon, elemental carbon, inorganic ions and metals were determined according to the mass balance. The dominant mass components were organic matter and elemental carbon (54.8%), mineral dust (6.1%), secondary inorganic aerosols (3.0%), and salt (1.2%). A principal component analysis was applied to the samples and resulted in five major factors that explained 79% of the variance in PM2.5. These factors represented combustion, industrial sources, soil dust, secondary inorganic aerosol, and salt, and each explai