galactosan and arabitol

An interlaboratory comparison was performed to evaluate the analytical methods for quantification of anhydrosugars - levoglucosan, mannosan, galactosan - and biosugars - arabitol, glucose and mannitol - in atmospheric aerosol. The performance of 10 laboratories in Italy currently involved in such analyses was investigated on twenty-six PM (particulate matter) ambient filters, three synthetic PM filters and three aqueous standard solutions. An acceptable interlaboratory variability was found, determined as the mean relative standard deviation (RSD%) of the results from the participating laboratories, with the mean RSD% values ranging from 25% to 46% and decreasing with increasing sugar concentration. The investigated methods show good accuracy, evaluated as the percentage error (ε%) related to mean values, since method biases ranged within ±20% for most of the analytes measured in the different laboratories. The detailed investigation (ANOVA analysis at p < 0.05) of the contribution of each laboratory to the total variability and the measurement accuracy shows that comparable results are generated by the different methods, despite the great diversity in terms of extraction conditions, chromatographic separation - more recent LC (liquid chromatography) and EC (exchange chromatography) methods compared to more widespread GC (gas chromatography) - and detection systems, namely PAD (pulsed amperometric detection) or mass spectrometry.

Topics: Aerosols; Air Pollutants; Carbohydrates; Chromatography, Liquid; Environmental Monitoring; Galactose; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Glucose; Italy; Mannose; Mass Spectrometry; Observer Variation; Particulate Matter; Sugar Alcohols

Based on the newly established high-performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD), the saccharides in PM2.5 and PM10 in Beijing from 2011 - 2012 were quantified. Fourteen saccharides were synchronously detected in the aerosols samples in Beijing, which can be divided into three categories, i. e. anhydrosugar, sugar and sugar alcohol. Anhydrosugar, coming from biomass burning, include levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan. Sugar and sugar alcohol, emitted by the primary biogenic emission, include glucose, fructose, trehalose, arabitol, mannitol, glycerol, threitol, 2-meythltrtols (2-methylthreitol and 2-methylerythrito), xylitol and inositol. The concentrations of monosaccharide anhydrides in summer and autumn were obviously higher than those in spring and winter, while the concentrations of sugar and sugar alcohol in winter were significantly lower than those in other seasons. The results of positive matrix factorization analysis suggested that saccharides compounds in atmospheric PM in Beijing can be derived from biomass burning, suspended soil or dust, isoprene SOA, as well as direct release of airborne fungal spores and pollen.

Topics: Aerosols; Air Pollutants; Beijing; Carbohydrates; Dust; Environmental Monitoring; Galactose; Glucose; Mannose; Particulate Matter; Seasons; Sugar Alcohols