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Seventy three individual organic compounds in the atmospheric particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than or equal to a nominal 10 μm (PM 10 ) over Seoul were identified and quantified from April 2010 to April 2011 using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). These organic compounds were classified into five groups, n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mono-carboxylic acids, di-carboxylic acids (DCAs), and sugars based on their chemical structures and properties. The organic compounds showed higher seasonal average concentrations from fall to winter than from spring to summer due to source strength, except some organic compounds among mono-carboxylic acids, DCAs, sugars such as undecanoic acid, methylmalonic acid, and fructose. Through qualitative data analysis using seasonal concentration variations and relevant diagnostic parameters, it was found that (1) anthropogenic sources such as combustion of fossil fuel and biomass burning attributed more to the formation of the organic aerosols than biogenic sources, and (2) the ambient level of n-alkanes, PAHs, and some compounds of DCAs and sugars was elevated in winter due to the increased primary emissions and larger transport from outside of the organic compounds in winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the geographic source contributions by particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is important for the Korean peninsula due to its downwind location from source areas. Regional influence of particulate PAHs was previously identified using diagnostic ratios applied to mobile source dominated roadside sampling data (Kim et al., 2012b). However, no study has yet been conducted to quantify the regional source contributions. We applied a multivariate receptor modeling tool to identify and quantify the regional source contributions to particulate PAHs in Seoul. Sampling of roadside particulate PAHs was conducted in Seoul, Korea for four years between May 2005 and April 2009, and data analysis was performed with a new multivariate receptor model, Solver for Mixture Problem (SMP). The SMP model identified two sources, local mobile source and transported regional source, and quantified their source contributions. Analysis of the particulate PAHs data reveals three types of episodic periods: a high regional source contribution period with one case, a high mobile source contribution period with three cases, and a normal contribution period with eight cases. Four-year average particulate PAHs source contributions from the two sources are 4.6 ng m −3 and 10.7 ng m −3 for regional and mobile sources, respectively and equivalent to 30% and 70% of the total estimated contribution from each of these sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]