Physical and Chemical Characterization of Carbonaceous Aerosols in Korea

Atmospheric aerosols have been recently paid attention more in environmental research due to their negative effects on air quality, public health, and climate change. The aerosols contain approximately >20–50% carbonaceous components such as organic carbon (OC) and black carbon (BC) (or elemental carbon [EC]) derived from organic compounds, biomass burning, and incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. The physical, chemical, and biological properties of atmospheric aerosols are strongly dependent on the carbonaceous components. In particular, the BC could significantly affect the regional air quality in the northeastern Asia, because China is one of the foremost BC emission country in the world. Previous studies have mainly focused on the quantification and source identification for carbonaceous aerosols. However, understanding of physical and chemical properties for the carbonaceous aerosols related to environmental contamination and toxicity was still incomplete due to analytical difficulties. This study is addressed to evaluate the contribution of carbonaceous aerosols to air pollution through the surface, mass spectroscopic, and electron microscopic analyses, and determination of chemical composition and structure using the air particulate matter (PM2.5 and >PM2.5) samples.