Unveiling the organic chemical composition and sources of organic carbon in PM2.5 at an urban site in Greater Cairo (Egypt): A comprehensive analysis of primary and secondary compounds - Archive ouverte HAL
Article Dans Une Revue Environmental Research Année : 2024

Unveiling the organic chemical composition and sources of organic carbon in PM2.5 at an urban site in Greater Cairo (Egypt): A comprehensive analysis of primary and secondary compounds

Résumé

This work presents an exhaustive chemical characterization of the organic fraction of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) collected at an urban site in the Greater Cairo Area, Egypt, one of the most polluted megacities in the world. An intensive 2-month sampling campaign was conducted at an urban site in Giza (Dokki), from November 26, 2019, to January 28, 2020. Daily (24-h integrated) PM 2.5 filter samples were then analyzed for their carbonaceous (OC, EC) and organic fractions including primary (n-alkanes, phthalates, fatty acids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, hopanes, sugars, and sugar alcohols) and secondary (isoprene and β-caryophyllene oxidation products, and dicarboxylic acids) compounds. Average organic (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations were 17.8 ± 6.6 μg/m 3 and 4.4 ± 1.5 μg/m 3 , respectively. Biomass burning was confirmed by high daily concentration levels of levoglucosan, mannosan, and galactosan (sum equals to 288 ng/m 3 ). Road traffic was also highlighted by the relative abundance of tetracosane and a carbon preference index close to unity as well as by the concentration ratios of PAHs and hopanes. Moreover, phthalates were identified for the first time in Cairo with high concentrations (654 ng/m 3 ) that might be attributable to open waste burning activities. Fatty acids and sugars were also investigated and assigned to cooking activities and primary biogenic sources, respectively. The average concentration of isoprene and β-caryophyllene oxidation products were 0.89 ± 0.83 ng/m 3 , and 0.01 ± 0.02 ng/m 3 , respectively. These low values are expected since no pine trees or even forests exist in Egypt. The macrotracer approach was employed alongside Monte Carlo simulation to identify sources of primary OC and evaluate the uncertainties associated with source attribution and OC reconstruction. The findings revealed a strong contribution from cooking (31% of observed OC) and biomass burning (18%), with median reconstructed OC levels showing significant uncertainty (64%) as expected.

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Dates et versions

hal-04740326 , version 1 (16-10-2024)

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Eliane Farah, Marc Fadel, Gihane Mansour, Nansi Fakhri, Salwa K Hassan, et al.. Unveiling the organic chemical composition and sources of organic carbon in PM2.5 at an urban site in Greater Cairo (Egypt): A comprehensive analysis of primary and secondary compounds. Environmental Research, 2024, 263, pp.120118. ⟨10.1016/j.envres.2024.120118⟩. ⟨hal-04740326⟩
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