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Intercomparison of C-14 Analysis of Carbonaceous Aerosols: Exercise 2009

Szidat, S. ; Bench, G. ; Bernardoni, V. ; Calzolai, G. ; Czimczik, C. I. ; Derendorp, L. ; Dusek, U. ; Elder, K. ; Fedi, M. E. and Genberg, Johan LU , et al. (2013) In Radiocarbon 55(2-3). p.1496-1509
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... (More)
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. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Radiocarbon
volume
55
issue
2-3
pages
1496 - 1509
publisher
Arizona Board of Regents (University of Arizona)
external identifiers
  • wos:000325752100136
  • scopus:84884376019
ISSN
0033-8222
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
82035e34-d889-408d-b99a-867fedf63d02 (old id 4171625)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:25:53
date last changed
2022-02-11 21:08:54
@article{82035e34-d889-408d-b99a-867fedf63d02,
  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.}},
  author       = {{Szidat, S. and Bench, G. and Bernardoni, V. and Calzolai, G. and Czimczik, C. I. and Derendorp, L. and Dusek, U. and Elder, K. and Fedi, M. E. and Genberg, Johan and Gustafsson, O. and Kirillova, E. and Kondo, M. and McNichol, A. P. and Perron, Nolwenn and Santos, G. M. and Stenström, Kristina and Swietlicki, Erik and Uchida, M. and Vecchi, R. and Wacker, L. and Zhang, Y. L. and Prevot, A. S. H.}},
  issn         = {{0033-8222}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2-3}},
  pages        = {{1496--1509}},
  publisher    = {{Arizona Board of Regents (University of Arizona)}},
  series       = {{Radiocarbon}},
  title        = {{Intercomparison of C-14 Analysis of Carbonaceous Aerosols: Exercise 2009}},
  volume       = {{55}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}