ABSTRACT
Aerosol samples are most often acquired by drawing ambient or room air through filter material using a pump, with subsequent quantification of the particle mass and its chemical components by off-site laboratory analysis. The composition of atmospheric aerosols varies markedly, depending on sampler location, the proximity of significant sources of aerosols and their gaseous precursors and meteorology. Carbon-containing material is a significant constituent of atmospheric anthropogenic aerosols. The absorption optical depth and the mass of black carbon in the aerosol sample are determined from the light intensities measured for the pure Nuclepore filters (NPF) and for NPF with aerosol samples. Atmospheric anthropogenic aerosols are vehicles for several hundred organic substances, of which several are toxic, mutagenic, and/or carcinogenic. Artifact-free aerosol sampling procedures seem to be important complements to the classical filter methods. On-line bulk analysis could have, after further improvement, the ability to determine the real chemical composition of an aerosol sample.
