Sampling and analysis of organic compounds in diesel particulate matter

The fraction of atmospheric semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC) is parti tioned between the gaseous and particulate phases. Certain of these compoun ds eg. polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and their derivatives have b een shown to exhibit mutagenic or carcinogenic properties. Emissions from d iesel engines are an important source of these contaminants. In a dilution chamber, we studied a diesel engine emissions. It is shown firstly, that th e gaseous fraction is predominant (by up to 20 times) with respect to the p articulate phase. Secondly, the polar compounds, neglected in the majority of previous studies, are the predominant species. A test campaign was carri ed out in Paris-Porte d'Auteuil which yielded similar results to the labora tory experiments.