Cristina Oliveira

Size distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a roadway tunnel in Lisbon, Portugal

Atmospheric aerosols of four aerodynamic size ranges were collected using high volume cascade impactors in an extremely busy roadway tunnel in Lisbon (Portugal). Dust deposited on the tunnel walls and guardrails was also collected. Average particle mass concentrations in the tunnel atmosphere were more than 30times higher than in the outside urban background air, revealing its origins almost exclusively from fresh vehicle emissions. Most of the aerosol mass was concentrated in submicrometer fractions (65%), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were even more concentrated in the finer particles with an average of 84% of total PAH present in sizes smaller than 0.49μm. The most abundant PAH were methylated phenanthrenes, fluoranthene and pyrene. About 46% of the total PAH mass was attributed to lower molecular weight compounds (two and three rings), suggesting a strong influence of diesel vehicle emissions on the production of local particulate PAH. The application of diagnostic ratios confirmed the relevance of this source of PAH in the tunnel ambient air. Deposited dust presented PAH profiles similar to the coarser aerosol size range, in agreement with the predominant origin of coarser aerosol particles from soil dust resuspension and vehicle wear products.

Ionic composition of seawaters and derived saline solutions determined by ion chromatography and its relation to other water quality parameters

Ion chromatography (IC) presents new possibilities for assessing information about environmental samples, namely waters of various compositions, ranging from high-purity water to highly saline ones. Constant proportion between major ions present in seawater, has been assumed in the past, from which the first practical equation relating chlorinity and salinity has been developed, being later substituted by a practical salinity scale, derived from conductivity measurements relative to a standard seawater, according to internationally accepted recommended procedures. Seawaters are characterized by salinity values around 35 while derived saline solutions may present considerable changes in ionic composition, conductivity, hence on salinity. Natural and anthropogenic phenomena may introduce new issues requiring clarification for which qualitative and quantitative information from additional sources is useful, e.g. ionic composition from IC. The different ranges of concentration of major and minor species present in seawater and derived saline solutions are a challenge for the optimization of a practical methodology for composition assessment in two single IC runs, one for anions and another one for cations, which has been attained in this work. Composition of saline solutions determined by IC was critically assessed in terms of anion-cation balance and further related to conductivity and salinity measurements aiming to evaluate the quality/completeness of ion chromatographic analyses performed at preselected conditions and to search for other meaningful relations for efficient recognition/distinction between saline solutions of different types.

Designing valid and optimised standard addition calibrations: Application to the determination of anions in seawater

A strategy for designing valid standard addition calibrations and for optimising their uncertainty is presented. The design of calibrations involves the development of models of the sensitivity and precision of the instrumental signal, in a wide range of analyte concentration (or any other studied quantity), and the definition of sample dilution and standard addition procedures that allow fulfilling the assumptions of the linear unweighted regression model in, typically, a smaller range of standard addition calibrations. Calibrators are prepared by diluting the sample and adding analyte with negligible uncertainty to fit in a concentration range where signals are homoscedastic. The minimisation of the uncertainty is supported on detailed measurement uncertainty models function of the calibrators preparation procedure and of analytical instrumentation performance. The number of collected signals replicates is defined by balancing their impact on the estimated expanded uncertainty, the resources needed and the target (maximum) uncertainty for the intended use of measurements. The calibration design strategy was successfully applied to the determination of the mass concentration (mg L(-1)) of Cl(-), Br(-), NO3(-) and SO4(-2) in seawater by ion chromatography. A target expanded uncertainty of 20% was defined for the determination of Cl(-), NO3(-) and SO4(-2), or 40% for the determination of the smaller mass concentration of Br(-). The developed measurement model produced reliable predictions of the measurement uncertainty from approximate concentration of the analyte in the sample, before its accurate quantification, thus proving optimisation is effective. Predictions are more prone to the variability of the measurement uncertainty estimation if based on low number of calibrators signals. The reported relative expanded uncertainty ranged from 7.1% to 49%.

Evaluation of the performance of the determination of anions in the water soluble fraction of atmospheric aerosols

The knowledge of the mass of particulate matter in air, its chemical composition and emission sources is of relevance for taking decisions concerning air quality management in urban areas. The interpretation of these data is a function of the quality of the measurement results expressed by their uncertainties. This study aimed at developing models of the performance of the determination of anions in the water-soluble fraction of atmospheric aerosols, capable of determining, separately, the contribution of aerosols sampling, extraction of water-soluble fraction of atmospheric aerosols and quantification, by ion chromatography, of anions in the extract. The sampling procedure was assessed from the dispersion of results of duplicate parallel sampling after subtracting the analytical component of this dispersion. These models are used to evaluate the adequacy of the measurement procedure for the determination of urban aerosol composition and to support strategies for reducing measurement uncertainty or cost of analysis. The method performance was studied for the following ranges considering extract dilution up to five times: 0.23-8 μg m(-3) for chloride and nitrate, and 0.093-3.25 μg m(-3) for sulphate. Measurements are fit for the analysis of urban aerosols since the relative expanded measurement uncertainty is smaller than a maximum value of 40%. The percentage contribution of the uncertainty components varies with the analyte and its mass concentration, the major components being 24-93% for the extraction, 43-59% for sampling, 0.2-28% for the interpolation of the sample signal in the calibration curve and 4-8% for air volume measurement. The typical composition of analysed air is: (1.12±0.26) μg m(-3), (1.02±0.30) μg m(-3) and (0.76±0.22) μg m(-3) of chloride, nitrate and sulphate in the water soluble fraction of aerosol, respectively, for a confidence level of approximately 95% considering a coverage factor of 2.

SEAWATER pH MEASUREMENTS WITH A COMBINATION GLASS ELECTRODE AND HIGH IONIC STRENGTH TRIS-TRIS HCl REFERENCE BUFFERS – AN UNCERTAINTY EVALUATION APPROACH

The comparison of pH measurements in seawater collected at different locations or occasions, is meaningful if the same measurand (i.e. the quantity intended to be measured) is determined, if adequate measurement procedures are used, including the selection of calibrators, and if the measurement uncertainty is known. Depending on the purpose of this evaluation, the measurement uncertainty should be smaller than a defined target value. The measured pH should have a sound physical-chemical meaning to allow the adequate assessment of its impacts. In the present procedure TRIS-TRIS HCl solutions, of different molality ratios, prepared in artificial seawater with reference values estimated by primary measurements, were used to obtain proper calibrators for the pH meter used for the analysis of seawater samples. This work presents the uncertainty evaluation of pH measurements in seawater, performed by potentiometry using a combination glass electrode, from the interpolation uncertainty evaluated by the Least Squares Regression Model and by Monte Carlo Simulations of measured potentials and reference values. The uncertainty evaluation was critically assessed. The developed algorithms were implemented in a user-friendly MS-Excel file available as Electronic Supplementary Material. Seawater pH was measured with an expanded uncertainty of 0.019 enabling discriminating differences of pH of two samples larger than 0.029.