Comparison of aerosol acidity in urban and semi-rural environments

Technical Report · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992

OSTI ID:6830050

Burton, R M; Wilson, W E; Koutrakis, P; Liu, L J.S.

During the summer of 1990, acid aerosol, acid gas, and ammonia measurements were conducted simultaneously at three locations in central and western Pennsylvania where population levels were large (metropolitan Pittsburgh) and small (semi-rural communities of Uniontown and State College). Aerosol acidity was found to be lower in the urban area than in the two semi-rural locations. On the constrast, ammonia levels were higher in the urban environment than in the semi-rural environments. Possible sources of ammonia in Pittsburgh are people residing in the city or the two coke plants located upwind of the Pittsburgh sampling site. A mixture of totally and partially neutralized sulfates, i.e., (NH4)2SO4 and NH4HSO4, were the dominating sulfur species in Pittsburgh while in State College and Uniontown, the primary sulfur species were H2SO4 and NH4HSO4.

• Research Organization: Harvard Univ., Boston, MA (United States). School of Public Health
• OSTI ID: 6830050
• Report Number(s): PB-93-131712/XAB; CNN: EPA-R-81-6740
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540220* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ACID NEUTRALIZING CAPACITY
AEROSOLS
AIR POLLUTION
AMMONIA
CARBONIZATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
COKE
COKING
COLLOIDS
COMMUNITIES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DECOMPOSITION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DISPERSIONS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVALUATION
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LEVELS
MASS TRANSFER
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN HYDRIDES
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
OXIDATION
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PENNSYLVANIA
PITTSBURGH
PLANTS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION SOURCES
RURAL AREAS
SAMPLING
SOLS
SULFATES
SULFUR
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
URBAN AREAS
USA
WATER CHEMISTRY