Title: Sampling errors in the study of acid gases and anion species in atmospheric aerosols

Authors: Guor-Cheng Fang, Yuh-Shen Wu, Chia-Chium Chu, Peter Pi-Cheng Fu

Addresses: Air Toxic and Environmental Analysis Laboratory, Hungkuang University, Taiwan. ' Air Toxic and Environmental Analysis Laboratory, Hungkuang University, Taiwan. ' Dept of Internal Medicine, Chien Yu Regional Teaching Hospital, Lin Yuang, Taiwan. ' Division of Biochemical Toxicology National Center for Toxicological Research, Jefferson, AR, USA

Abstract: Atmospheric acid aerosols were sampled by two annular denuder systems (ADS) and a micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor (MOUDI) at a traffic site in central Taiwan. Theoretical analysis showed that the relative artifact for HNO₃ gas sampling was about 0.53 when the initial HNO₃ concentration was under 0.2 µg/m³ and should be considered carefully. The concentrations of gaseous acid at the traffic sampling site were higher than those in the other study. The size distributions of acid aerosols were unimodal for Cl^-, NO₂^-, and NO₃^-, and bimodal for SO₄^2-. The dominant acid ions in particles less than 18 µm were SO₄^2-, NO₃^-, NO₂^- and Cl^-.

Keywords: acid aerosols; annular denuder; MOUDI; ions; size distribution; Taiwan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2004.005128

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2004 Vol.21 No.6, pp.566 - 578

Published online: 03 Sep 2004 *

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