• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.28-40
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• 2015

To investigate the seasonal variations of carbonaceous aerosol in Daejeon, OC (organic carbon), EC (elemental carbon) and WSOC (water soluble organic carbon) in $PM_{2.5}$ samples collected from March 2012 to February 2013 were analyzed. $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations were estimated by the sum of organic matter ($1.6{\times}OC$), EC, water-soluble ions ($Na^+$, $NH_4{^{+}}$, $K^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Cl^-$, $SO_4{^{2-}}$, $NO_3{^{-}}$). The estimated $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations were relatively higher in winter ($29.50{\pm}12.04{\mu}g/m^3$) than those in summer ($13.72{\pm}6.92{\mu}g/m^3$). Carbonaceous aerosol ($1.6{\times}OC+EC$) was a significant portion (34~47%) of $PM_{2.5}$ in all season. The seasonally averaged OC and WSOC concentrations were relatively higher in winter ($6.57{\times}3.48{\mu}gC/m^3$ and $4.07{\pm}2.53{\mu}gC/m^3$ respectively), than those in summer ($3.07{\pm}0.8{\mu}gC/m^3$, $1.77{\pm}0.68{\mu}gC/m^3$, respectively). OC was correlated well with WSOC in all season, indicating that they have similar emission sources or formation processes. In summer, both OC and WSOC were weakly correlated with EC and also poorly correlated with a well-known biomass burning tracer, levoglucosan, while WSOC is highly correlated with SOC (secondary organic carbon) and $O_3$. The results suggest that carbonaceous aerosol in summer was highly influenced by secondary formation rather than primary emissions. In contrast, both OC and WSOC in winter were strongly correlated with EC and levoglucosan, indicating that carbonaceous aerosol in winter was closely related to primary source such as biomass burning. The contribution of biomass burning to $PM_{2.5}$ OC and EC, which was estimated using the levoglucosan to OC and EC ratios of potential biomass burning sources, was about $70{\pm}15%$ and $31{\pm}10%$, respectively, in winter. Results from this study clearly show that $PM_{2.5}$ OC has seasonally different chemical characteristics and origins.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.13-24
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• 2024

The concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and elemental carbon (EC) in particulate matter, typical primary aerosols have decreased in Seoul between 2003 and 2018 (80% for PAHs and 85% for EC). The yearly mean benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) concentration has been lower than 1 ng/m3 since 2010-2011, the target value set by the European Union (EU) and China. A series of policies related to solid fuel and vehicle in South Korea and China should be effective in the reduction of the ambient PAHs and EC concentrations. But the emission data of PAHs and EC at both countries did not support that hypothesis. Possible causes are uncertainties in the emission inventories of primary carbonaceous aerosols in South Korea and China, although there may be a minor effect of the emissions from North Korea on the concentrations in Seoul. Thus the further policy directions against PAHs and EC such as improvements of emissions inventories and measurements, intensive regulation of non-road mobile sources and control of PAHs derivatives are discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.461-472
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• 2021

Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the differences in EC concentrations according to the type of sampler by measuring and analyzing EC. Methods: Elemental carbon was measured in diesel engine vehicles and at the roadside. Using NIOSH method 5040, a cassette was coupled to 37 mm and 27 mm quartz filters and measurements were performed 21 times. There were 14 types of measurement methods, and polystyrene, polypropylene, and metal samplers were evenly placed inside the movable chamber. Results: The results measured using the 37 mm conductive cassette (closed/open) and the IOM sampler made of conductive materials showed a higher ratio than the other results. When the 37 mm conductive cassette was measured with the lid open, it showed a statistically significantly higher ratio than with other measurement methods (p<0.05). Conclusions: Checking the EC concentration a total of 21 times at each ratio based on the concentration of the 3-stage polystyrene cassette, it was statistically significantly higher when the 37 mm conductive cassette was open. This same cassette also showed a slightly higher EC concentration when closed. It was ascertained that some DEE was collected on the cassette wall surface due to the electrical conductivity of the polystyrene cassette, resulting in sample loss. Since EC is composed of fine particles, it is thought that electrical conductivity may affect its concentration.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.20
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• pp.55-65
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• 2007

Black surface layers collected from stone pagodas were analyzed to study the effects of carbon compounds on the blackening of stone surface layer. The total amounts of carbon was measured through elemental analyser. Organic and elemental carbon were measured by combustion ihrornatographic $CO_2$ determination after elimination of carbonates carbon with acid treatment. The elemental carbon concentration in the black surface layer measured 0.52wt.%. This value is not sufficient to explain the complete blackening of stone surface. To trace the origin of carbon in black surface layer on the stone pagoda, aerosol samples for PM 10 were collected at the near sites of the pagoda. The major components of them were soluble ions(42.8wt.%), carbon(38.4 wt.%) and crustal matter(16wt.%). From the high content(13wt.%) of elemental carbon in aerosol ran be deduced that it may be a prime origin for the elemental carbon in the black surface layer on the stone pagoda. The crustal matter in aerosol can be also a origin of silicate mineral in black surface layer and plays a important role in the darkening of black surface layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.92-93
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• 2005

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.447-456
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• 2018

Elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) thermal/optical methods for the analysis of ambient particulate matter were used to analyze twenty-two $PM_{2.5}$ samples along collected from May 28 to June 20 of 2016 at the Anmyeon measurement site ($36.32^{\circ}N$; $126.19^{\circ}E$). The three laboratory OCEC protocols, which are the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH5040), the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments_A(IMPROVE_A), and European Supersites for Atmospheric Aerosol Research2 (EUSAAR2), were utilized for the aerosol characterization experiment as in intercomparisons between three protocols. There are excellent agreement for total carbon (i.e. sum of EC and OC), but statistically significant differences were observed in the split between the measured EC and OC. IMPROVE_A EC values were always larger than both NIOSH5040 and EUSAAR2 protocols. These methods exhibited significantly different temperature-distributions based on thermogram analysis, which is normalized to total carbon. In this study, a protocol for carbonaceous analysis is suggested for the Korean Peninsula.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.179-191
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• 1997

The concentrations of organic and elemental carbon were determined using fine particle samples collected from Kosan, Cheju Island during the summer seasons of 1994 and 1995. The daily mean concentrations of organic and elemental carbon for each measurement period were 3.74 and 0.27 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥ in 1994, while those of 1995 were 2.36 and 0.10 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥, respectively The concentrations of organic carbon were higher than those commonly observed from clean areas around the world, but those of elemental carbon were lower than, or comparable to, other clean areas in the world. The resulting ratios of total carbon to elemental carbon at this site were thus higher than those seen from other metropolitan and non-polluted regions abroad. In addition according to our analysis, the 1994 measurement period can be classified into two periods: enhanced (July 20 and August 1) and reduced levels (August 2 and 9) of the carbonaceous species. The observed difference between two periods may be in part accounted for by the air trajectories representing each period. During the former period, the air masses from the Asian continent and Japan were dominant, while the air masses from the North Pacific Ocean came during the latter period. OC/EC ratios at the site were calculated to predict the possible formation of secondary organic aerosol . Based on our observations, we suggest that the formation of secondary organic aerosol might be an important pathway to the production of organic carbons.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.845-861
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• 2021

This study investigated the variations in monthly PM_2.5 concentrations and their characteristics at the sampling site (35.075°N, 129.080°E) around the Busan seaport area for six months (from August 2020 to January 2021). Monthly PM_2.5 concentrations in the filtered samples ranged from 8.4 to 42.3 ㎍/m³ (average=19.6±8.2 ㎍/m³, n=50) and were generally high in August, December, and January, and low in September, October, and November. The variations of monthly PM_2.5 concentrations showed similar patterns to those of the neighboring national air quality monitoring sites. The contents of Total Carbon (TC), Organic Carbon (OC), Elemental Carbon (EC), and OC/EC ratios in PM_2.5 showed large variability during the study period. The OC/EC ratios ranged from 4.2 to 34.4, suggesting that the relative contributions of OC and EC to the PM_2.5 concentrations changed temporally and might be related to their formation sources. Variations in the chemical components of and particle size distributions in PM_2.5 showed that high PM_2.5 concentrations were affected by various sources, such as sea salt and ship emission. The precursor gas concentrations were discussed in terms of monthly variations and their contributions to PM_2.5 concentrations. However, further research is needed to understand the characteristics and behaviors of PM_2.5 concentrations around the Busan seaport area.

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2010.04a
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• pp.219-220
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• 2010

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.449-460
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• 2015

Carbonaceous aerosol is generally classified into OC (organic carbon) and EC (elemental carbon) by thermal optical analysis. Both NIOSH (National institute of occupational safety and health) with high temperature (HighT) and IMPROVE-A (Interagency monitoring of protected visual environments) with low temperature (LowT) protocols are widely used. In this study, both protocols were applied for ambient $PM_{2.5}$ samples (Daejeon, Korea) in order to underpin differences in OC and EC measurements. An excellent agreement between NIOSH and IMPROVE-A protocol was observed for TC (total carbon). However, significant differences between OC and EC appeared and the differences were larger for EC than OC. The main differences between two protocols are temperature profile and charring correction method. For the same charring correction method, HighT_OC was 10% higher than LowT_ OC, while HighT_EC was 15% and 33% lower than LowT_EC for TOT (thermal-optical transmittance) and TOR (thermal-optical reflectance), respectively. This difference may be caused by the temperature of OC4 in He step and possibly difference in POC (pryorilized OC) formation. For the same temperature profile, OC by TOT was about 26% higher than that by TOR. In contrast, EC by TOT was about 50% lower than that by TOR. POC was also dependent on both temperature profile and the charring correction method, showing much distinctive differences for the charring correction method (i.e., POC by TOT to POC by TOR ratio is about 2). This difference might be caused by different characteristics between transmittance and reflectance for monitoring POC formation within filters. Results from this study showed that OC and EC depends on applied analysis protocol as shown other studies. Because of the nature of the thermal optical analysis, it may not be possible to have an absolute standard analysis protocol that is applicable for any ambient $PM_{2.5}$. Nevertheless, in order to provide consistent measurement results for scientists and policy makers, future studies should focus on developing a harmonized standard analysis protocol that is suitable for a specific air domain and minimizes variations in OC and EC measurement results. In addition, future elaborate studies are required to find and understand the causes of the differences.