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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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1807/87375 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 |
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ftunivtoronto:oai:localhost:1807/87375 2023-05-15T18:44:19+02:00 Sources of particulate matter components in the Athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies Phillips-Smith, Catherine Jeong, Cheol-Heon Healy, Robert M. Dabek-Zlotorzynska, Ewa Celo, Valbona Brook, Jeffrey R. Evans, Greg J. 2017-05-10 http://hdl.handle.net/1807/87375 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 en_ca eng European Geosciences Union Phillips-Smith, C., C-H Jeong, R. M. Healy, E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska, V. Celo, J. R. Brook, and G.J. Evans. “Sources of Particulate Matter in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region: Investigation through a Comparison of Trace Element Measurement Methodologies” Atm. Chem. and Phys. 17, 9435-9449, doi:10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017. 1680-7324 http://hdl.handle.net/1807/87375 doi:10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY Article 2017 ftunivtoronto https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 2020-06-17T12:16:41Z 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 PM2. 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 PM2. 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 PM2. 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. This study was undertaken with the financial and operational support of the Government of Canada through Environment and Climate Change Canada as part of the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring program. Infrastructure support was provided by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research Fund (Project: 19606). The authors thank the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) for support in integrated air sampling collection in the Athabasca oil sands region. We would like also to acknowledge the provincial, territorial, and municipal governments as partners of the National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) Program. Article in Journal/Newspaper Wood Buffalo University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space Canada Wood Buffalo ENVELOPE(-112.007,-112.007,57.664,57.664) Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 17 15 9435 9449 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtoronto |
language |
English |
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 PM2. 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 PM2. 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 PM2. 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. This study was undertaken with the financial and operational support of the Government of Canada through Environment and Climate Change Canada as part of the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring program. Infrastructure support was provided by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research Fund (Project: 19606). The authors thank the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) for support in integrated air sampling collection in the Athabasca oil sands region. We would like also to acknowledge the provincial, territorial, and municipal governments as partners of the National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) Program. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Phillips-Smith, Catherine Jeong, Cheol-Heon Healy, Robert M. Dabek-Zlotorzynska, Ewa Celo, Valbona Brook, Jeffrey R. Evans, Greg J. |
spellingShingle |
Phillips-Smith, Catherine Jeong, Cheol-Heon Healy, Robert M. Dabek-Zlotorzynska, Ewa Celo, Valbona Brook, Jeffrey R. Evans, Greg J. Sources of particulate matter components in the Athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies |
author_facet |
Phillips-Smith, Catherine Jeong, Cheol-Heon Healy, Robert M. Dabek-Zlotorzynska, Ewa Celo, Valbona Brook, Jeffrey R. Evans, Greg J. |
author_sort |
Phillips-Smith, Catherine |
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 |
European Geosciences Union |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1807/87375 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 |
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_relation |
Phillips-Smith, C., C-H Jeong, R. M. Healy, E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska, V. Celo, J. R. Brook, and G.J. Evans. “Sources of Particulate Matter in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region: Investigation through a Comparison of Trace Element Measurement Methodologies” Atm. Chem. and Phys. 17, 9435-9449, doi:10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017. 1680-7324 http://hdl.handle.net/1807/87375 doi:10.5194/acp-17-9435-2017 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
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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1766234963830636544 |