Characterization of saccharides and other organic compounds in fine particles and the use of saccharides to track primary biologically derived carbon sources

A total of 134 aerosol samples (dp < 2.5 μm) were collected at one rural site and one urban site in Texas from November 2005 to July 2006 to investigate the different sources that contribute to the ambient levels of different compounds. In particular, saccharide compounds were studied as potential tracers to track aerosols of biologically derived origin. The ambient concentration, seasonal variation, and urban/rural comparison of major saccharides and other organic compounds including normal alkanes, hopanes, and carboxylic acids were determined and analyzed relative to characterizing sources of PM2.5. Saccharides, together with other known molecular markers, were analyzed by a positive matrix factorization model and eight source factors were isolated that provide meaningful interpretation of aerosol sources. Three isolated factors were characterized by the dominance of different saccharide compounds and were attributed to wood smoke, sucrose rich bio-aerosols, and fungal spore derived bio-aerosols. It was estimated that wood smoke and primary biologically derived carbon sources contributed 22% and 14% to the measured ambient PM2.5 mass at San Augustine and 16% and 5% to the measured ambient PM2.5 mass at Dallas. The relative PM contribution from other resolved sources were also calculated.