The aerosol produced by agricultural operations has significant contribution to the atmospheric aerosol loadings and, therefore, its impacts on visibility, climate forcing and human health should be considered. This work shows the chemical composition and the morphology of agricultural aerosols produced during wheat harvest threshing, plowing, and wheat sowing. The aerosol was sampled with an 9-stage Andersen-Marple impactor with quartz filter and with a modified Millipore Swinnex 47 Polypropylene holder within the dust plume generated by the agricultural machines with teflo filter. The aerosol sampling was carried out in three different periods: summer on 25 June 2009 for wheat harvest threshing, autumn on 7 and 8 October 2009 for plowing and winter on 17 November 2009 for wheat sowing. The sampling area is located near Comacchio Valleys (44 ° 36' 40.79" N - 12° 04' 10:52'' E,-1m), in the Po Valley, in the north east of Italy, near Adriatic Sea. The chemical composition of sampled aerosol was analyzed by the dissolution of the aerosol and the quartz filter in an acid mixture and analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) (X Series spectrometer from Thermo Electron Corporation collision/reaction cell CCTED). The surface morphology and the elemental composition of the particles was studied on teflo filter by Scanning Electron Microscopy with an Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (SEM-EDS) (CARL-ZEISS EVO 40). The comparison of these two methodologies has allowed determining the markers of the natural sources of the aerosol. The aerosol mass size distribution is different for the three agricultural operations under investigation: for plowing, the aerosol mass increases with the increase of aerosol size while for sowing and threshing has a second peak on the second and first impactor stage, respectively. Overall, the amount of aerosol produced is one order of magnitude higher during harvest threshing and plowing than during sowing. The agricultural aerosol are mainly composed by organic particles and dust.
Characterization of aerosols released from agricultural operations in the Po Valley
TELLOLI, Chiara;VACCARO, Carmela;
2012
Abstract
The aerosol produced by agricultural operations has significant contribution to the atmospheric aerosol loadings and, therefore, its impacts on visibility, climate forcing and human health should be considered. This work shows the chemical composition and the morphology of agricultural aerosols produced during wheat harvest threshing, plowing, and wheat sowing. The aerosol was sampled with an 9-stage Andersen-Marple impactor with quartz filter and with a modified Millipore Swinnex 47 Polypropylene holder within the dust plume generated by the agricultural machines with teflo filter. The aerosol sampling was carried out in three different periods: summer on 25 June 2009 for wheat harvest threshing, autumn on 7 and 8 October 2009 for plowing and winter on 17 November 2009 for wheat sowing. The sampling area is located near Comacchio Valleys (44 ° 36' 40.79" N - 12° 04' 10:52'' E,-1m), in the Po Valley, in the north east of Italy, near Adriatic Sea. The chemical composition of sampled aerosol was analyzed by the dissolution of the aerosol and the quartz filter in an acid mixture and analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) (X Series spectrometer from Thermo Electron Corporation collision/reaction cell CCTED). The surface morphology and the elemental composition of the particles was studied on teflo filter by Scanning Electron Microscopy with an Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (SEM-EDS) (CARL-ZEISS EVO 40). The comparison of these two methodologies has allowed determining the markers of the natural sources of the aerosol. The aerosol mass size distribution is different for the three agricultural operations under investigation: for plowing, the aerosol mass increases with the increase of aerosol size while for sowing and threshing has a second peak on the second and first impactor stage, respectively. Overall, the amount of aerosol produced is one order of magnitude higher during harvest threshing and plowing than during sowing. The agricultural aerosol are mainly composed by organic particles and dust.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
