Truckee Meadows PM and VOC apportionment study: Winter 1997
- Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV (United States). Energy and Environmental Engineering Center
- Washoe County District Health Dept., Reno, NV (United States). Air Quality Management Div.
An ambient monitoring and source apportionment study was carried out in the Truckee Meadows area of northern Nevada in the winter of 1997. The goal was to measure ambient levels of PM10, PM2.5, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and determine the relative importance of their contributing sources. Two monitoring stations, one in the downtown Reno area (urban) and the other in Sparks (residential), collected ten 24-hour samples, on a one-in-six schedule. A total of twenty PM10 (Reno and Sparks), ten PM2.5 (Sparks), and ten VOC/canister and semi-volatile/Tenax (Reno) samples were obtained. Particle samples were analyzed for mass, organic/elemental carbon, ions, ammonium, and metals. Canister samples were analyzed for C2 to C12 hydrocarbons, while Tenax cartridges were analyzed for C8 to C20 hydrocarbons. Chemical mass balance (CMB) receptor modeling was performed on both the inorganic and organic data to estimate the contributions from different sources to the observed ambient concentrations. PM2.5 comprised roughly 50% of the PM10 concentration in the Sparks area. At the downtown Reno site, geological sources, such as resuspended road dust, construction sites and unpaved roads, contributed on average about 70% of the average PM10, while the Sparks geological contribution was about 55% of the average PM10. Other major PM10 sources included motor vehicles, wood smoke, and secondary sources (ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate). PM2.5 was dominated by almost equal contributions from motor vehicles and wood smoke. The results are in contrast to a 1986 study, which found greater relative contributions from motor vehicles and wood burning to the observed PM10. The VOC apportionment found that the sampling site was heavily influenced by mobile source emissions, with an average sum of gasoline-vehicle exhaust, diesel exhaust, and headspace vapor of 77% of the total VOCs.
- OSTI ID:
- 361957
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-980632-; TRN: IM9933%%341
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 91. annual meeting and exhibition of the Air and Waste Management Association, San Diego, CA (United States), 14-18 Jun 1998; Other Information: PBD: 1998; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the 91. annual meeting and exhibition. Bridging international boundaries: Clean production for environmental stewardship; PB: [5000] p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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