Aerosol chemical composition over Istanbul Original Research Article

This study examines the chemical composition of aerosols over the Greater Istanbul Area. To achieve this 325 (PM10) aerosol samples were collected over Bosphorus from November 2007 to June 2009 and were analysed for the main ions, trace metals, water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), organic (OC) and elemental carbon (EC). PM10 levels were found to be in good agreement with those measured by the Istanbul Municipality air quality network, indicating that the sampling site is representative of the Greater Istanbul Area. The main ions measured in the PM10 samples were Na+, Ca2+ and non-sea-salt sulphates (nss-SO42−). On average, 31% of Ca2+ was found to be associated with carbonates. Trace elements related to human activities (as Pb, V, Cd and Ni) obtained peak values during winter due to domestic heating, whereas natural origin elements like Al, Fe and Mn peaked during the spring period due to dust transport from Northern Africa. Organic carbon was found to be mostly primary and elemental carbon was strongly linked to fuel oil combustion and traffic. Both OC and EC concentrations increased during winter due to domestic heating, while the higher WSOC to OC ratio during summer can be mostly attributed to the presence of secondary, oxidised and more soluble organics. Factor analysis identified six components/sources for aerosol species in PM10, namely traffic/industrial, crustal, sea-salt, fuel–oil combustion, secondary and ammonium sulfate.