Sources of particulate matter components in the Athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies
The province of Alberta, Canada, is home to three oil sands regions which, combined, contain the third largest deposit of oil in the world. Of these, the Athabasca oil sands region is the largest. As part of Environment and Climate Change Canada's program in support of the Joint Canada-Alberta...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:36404486d1b64bd7a79982feac895e37 2023-05-15T18:44:20+02:00 Sources of particulate matter components in the Athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies C. Phillips-Smith C.-H. Jeong R. M. Healy E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska V. Celo J. R. Brook G. Evans 2017-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 https://doaj.org/article/36404486d1b64bd7a79982feac895e37 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/9435/2017/acp-17-9435-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/36404486d1b64bd7a79982feac895e37 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 17, Pp 9435-9449 (2017) Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 2022-12-31T04:37:14Z The province of Alberta, Canada, is home to three oil sands regions which, combined, contain the third largest deposit of oil in the world. Of these, the Athabasca oil sands region is the largest. As part of Environment and Climate Change Canada's program in support of the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring program, concentrations of trace elements in PM 2. 5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 µm in diameter) were measured through two campaigns that involved different methodologies: a long-term filter campaign and a short-term intensive campaign. In the long-term campaign, 24 h filter samples were collected once every 6 days over a 2-year period (December 2010–November 2012) at three air monitoring stations in the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo. For the intensive campaign (August 2013), hourly measurements were made with an online instrument at one air monitoring station; daily filter samples were also collected. The hourly and 24 h filter data were analyzed individually using positive matrix factorization. Seven emission sources of PM 2. 5 trace elements were thereby identified: two types of upgrader emissions, soil, haul road dust, biomass burning, and two sources of mixed origin. The upgrader emissions, soil, and haul road dust sources were identified through both the methodologies and both methodologies identified a mixed source, but these exhibited more differences than similarities. The second upgrader emissions and biomass burning sources were only resolved by the hourly and filter methodologies, respectively. The similarity of the receptor modeling results from the two methodologies provided reassurance as to the identity of the sources. Overall, much of the PM 2. 5 -related trace elements were found to be anthropogenic, or at least to be aerosolized through anthropogenic activities. These emissions may in part explain the previously reported higher levels of trace elements in snow, water, and biota samples collected near the oil sands operations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Wood Buffalo Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Wood Buffalo ENVELOPE(-112.007,-112.007,57.664,57.664) Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 17 15 9435 9449 |
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English |
topic |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
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Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 C. Phillips-Smith C.-H. Jeong R. M. Healy E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska V. Celo J. R. Brook G. Evans Sources of particulate matter components in the Athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies |
topic_facet |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
description |
The province of Alberta, Canada, is home to three oil sands regions which, combined, contain the third largest deposit of oil in the world. Of these, the Athabasca oil sands region is the largest. As part of Environment and Climate Change Canada's program in support of the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring program, concentrations of trace elements in PM 2. 5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 µm in diameter) were measured through two campaigns that involved different methodologies: a long-term filter campaign and a short-term intensive campaign. In the long-term campaign, 24 h filter samples were collected once every 6 days over a 2-year period (December 2010–November 2012) at three air monitoring stations in the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo. For the intensive campaign (August 2013), hourly measurements were made with an online instrument at one air monitoring station; daily filter samples were also collected. The hourly and 24 h filter data were analyzed individually using positive matrix factorization. Seven emission sources of PM 2. 5 trace elements were thereby identified: two types of upgrader emissions, soil, haul road dust, biomass burning, and two sources of mixed origin. The upgrader emissions, soil, and haul road dust sources were identified through both the methodologies and both methodologies identified a mixed source, but these exhibited more differences than similarities. The second upgrader emissions and biomass burning sources were only resolved by the hourly and filter methodologies, respectively. The similarity of the receptor modeling results from the two methodologies provided reassurance as to the identity of the sources. Overall, much of the PM 2. 5 -related trace elements were found to be anthropogenic, or at least to be aerosolized through anthropogenic activities. These emissions may in part explain the previously reported higher levels of trace elements in snow, water, and biota samples collected near the oil sands operations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. Phillips-Smith C.-H. Jeong R. M. Healy E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska V. Celo J. R. Brook G. Evans |
author_facet |
C. Phillips-Smith C.-H. Jeong R. M. Healy E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska V. Celo J. R. Brook G. Evans |
author_sort |
C. Phillips-Smith |
title |
Sources of particulate matter components in the Athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies |
title_short |
Sources of particulate matter components in the Athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies |
title_full |
Sources of particulate matter components in the Athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies |
title_fullStr |
Sources of particulate matter components in the Athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sources of particulate matter components in the Athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies |
title_sort |
sources of particulate matter components in the athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 https://doaj.org/article/36404486d1b64bd7a79982feac895e37 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-112.007,-112.007,57.664,57.664) |
geographic |
Canada Wood Buffalo |
geographic_facet |
Canada Wood Buffalo |
genre |
Wood Buffalo |
genre_facet |
Wood Buffalo |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 17, Pp 9435-9449 (2017) |
op_relation |
https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/9435/2017/acp-17-9435-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/36404486d1b64bd7a79982feac895e37 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
15 |
container_start_page |
9435 |
op_container_end_page |
9449 |
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