Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
9456210 | Environmental Pollution | 2005 | 11 Pages |
Abstract
Samples from Hong Kong, China, were analyzed for organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and total carbon (TC) by three thermal protocols (low-temperature IMPROVE and high-temperature STN and NIOSH) and two optical monitoring methods: reflectance and transmittance. Good agreement (±10%) for TC among the three protocols was observed for sample loadings of 1-55 μg mâ3. The two protocols using a reflectance pyrolysis correction showed best agreement for EC, with <20% differences found for â¼80% of the samples. Hong Kong has a large diesel fleet, and for some heavily loaded samples the light transmittance was too low for quantitative detection, resulting in large uncertainties in the OC/EC split based on transmittance. Hong Kong experienced OC levels similar to those at US sites, but has much higher EC concentrations. OC/EC ratios range from 2 to 5 at two US sites and from 0.2 to 1.2 at three Hong Kong sites.
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Authors
Judith C. Chow, John G. Watson, Peter K.K. Louie, L.-W. Antony Chen, Della Sin,