Intercomparison of C-14 Analysis of Carbonaceous Aerosols: Exercise 2009
Publisher DOI
Abstract
Radiocarbon analysis of the carbonaceous aerosol allows an apportionment of fossil and non-fossil sources of airborne particulate matter (PM). A chemical separation of total carbon (TC) into its subfractions organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) refines this powerful technique, as OC and EC originate from different sources and undergo different processes in the atmosphere. Although C-14 analysis of TC, EC, and OC has recently gained increasing attention, interlaboratory quality assurance measures have largely been missing, especially for the isolation of EC and OC. In this work, we present results from an intercomparison of 9 laboratories for C-14 analysis of carbonaceous aerosol samples on quartz fiber filters. Two ambient PM samples and 1 reference material (RM 8785) were provided with representative filter blanks. All laboratories performed C-14 determinations of TC and a subset of isolated EC and OC for isotopic measurement. In general, C-14 measurements of TC and OC agreed acceptably well between the laboratories, i.e. for TC within 0.015-0.025 (FC)-C-14 for the ambient filters and within 0.041 (FC)-C-14 for RM 8785. Due to inhomogeneous filter loading, RM 8785 demonstrated only limited applicability as a reference material for C-14 analysis of carbonaceous aerosols. C-14 analysis of EC revealed a large deviation between the laboratories of 28-79 as a consequence of different separation techniques. This result indicates a need for further discussion on optimal methods of EC isolation for C-14 analysis and a second stage of this intercomparison.
Date Issued
2013
Publication Type
Article
Subject(s)
Subjects
Radiocarbon
•
carbonaceous aerosols
•
organic carbon
•
elemental carbon
•
intercomparison
Language(s)
en
Author(s)
Bench, G. | |
Bernardoni, V. | |
Calzolai, G. | |
Czimczik, C. I. | |
Derendorp, L. | |
Dusek, U. | |
Elder, K. | |
Fedi, M. E. | |
Genberg, J. | |
Gustafsson, O. | |
Kirillova, E. | |
Kondo, M. | |
McNichol, A. P. | |
Perron, N. | |
Santos, G. M. | |
Stenstrom, K. | |
Swietlicki, E. | |
Uchida, M. | |
Vecchi, R. | |
Wacker, L. | |
Prevot, A. S. H. |
Additional Credits
Journal
Radiocarbon
Publisher
Arizona Board of Regents, University of Arizona
ISSN
0033-8222
Access(Rights)
open.access