Source apportionment of urban particulate aliphatic and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using multivariate methods

Samples of organic aerosol were collected in Santiago de Chile, An activate d-charcoal diffusion denuder was used to strip out organic vapors prior to particle collection. Both polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alip hatic hydrocarbons were determined using gas chromatography/mass spectromet ry (GC/MS). Organic particle sources were resolved using both concentration diagnostic ratios and multivariate methods such as hierarchical cluster an alysis (HCA) and factor analysis (FA). Four factors were identified based o n the loadings of PAHs and n-alkanes and were attributed to the following s ources: (1) high-temperature combustion of fuels; (2) fugitive emissions fr om oil residues; (3) biogenic sources; and (4) unburned fuels. Multilinear regression (MLR) analysis was used to determine emission profiles and contr ibutions of the sources. The reconstructed concentrations of particle phase aliphatic and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons were in good agreement (R- 2 > 0.70) With those measured in Santiago de Chile.