Concentrations and distributions of carbonaceous species in ambient particles in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Concentrations and distributions of elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) in particles were measured in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. PM10 and PM2.5 samples were collected using a dichotomous sampler from November 1998 to April 1999 and were analyzed For carbonaceous species with an elemental analyzer. The concentrations of carbonaceous species in Kaohsiung City were comparable to those at other urban locations in the world. On average, carbonaceous species accounted for 21.2% of the PM2.5, and 18.1% of the PM10,,. It was found that organic carbon dominated the carbonaceous species and was 72.2 and 70.4% of total carbon (TC) for PM2.5 and PM10. The secondary organic carbon formed through the volatile organic compound gas-to-particle conversion was estimated From the minimum ratio between elemental and organic carbon obtained in this study, and was found to constitute 40.0 and 32.4% of the total organic carbon particle for PM2.5 and PM,, (or 6.6 and 4.5% of the total particle mass). (C). 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.