Critical review and meta-analysis of ambient particulate matter source apportionment using receptor models in Europe

A review was conducted of the published literature on source apportionment of ambient particulate matter (PM) in Europe using receptor models (RMs). Consistent records were identified for source contribution estimates of PM mass concentrations for 272 records and of organic carbon (OC) in PM for 60 records. Over the period 2000–2012, a shift was observed in the use of RMs from principal component analysis, enrichment factors, and classical factor analysis to Positive Matrix Factorization while Chemical Mass Balance is still topical.Following a meta-analysis of the published results, six major source categories for PM were defined that comprise almost all individual sources apportioned in Europe: atmospheric formation of secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA), traffic, re-suspension of crustal/mineral dust, biomass burning, (industrial) point sources, and sea/road salt. For the OC fraction, the three main source categories were: atmospheric formation of secondary organic aerosol, biomass burning, and fossil fuel combustion. The geographical and seasonal variations of these sources are mapped and discussed.A special analysis of PM concentrations that exceed the current European air quality limits indicated SIA and traffic as the most important source categories to target for abatement throughout the year together with biomass burning during the cold season.

► Receptor models evolve towards tools with refined uncertainty treatment.
► Positive Matrix Factorization and Chemical Mass Balance are the most used models.
► Gas-to-particle conversion is the main PM mass and particulate organic carbon source.
► To abate exceedances, secondary inorganic and traffic are the main sources to target.
► More long term speciated PM datasets would foster source identification studies.