Chemical characterization of PM in the Apulia Region: local and long-range transport contributions to particulate matter

The chemical composition of PM10 samples collected during a monitoring campaign performed at five Apulia Region sites (Torchiarolo, Galatina, Taranto-Tamburi, Palagiano and Montalbano-Ostuni) was investigated. Ionic fraction, metals, carbonaceous compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined for all samples. The PM concentrations showed a regional background of PM10 at all the sites except for Taranto and Torchiarolo which are characterized by an important industrial area close to the town and by a local biomass burning source, respectively. A principal component analysis (PCA) applied to the dataset provided four sources relevant for the area under investigation, that were identified as combustion processes, crustal, marine aerosol and secondary particulate matter. The integrated approach used in this work (chemical characterization of the samples, meteorological information and statistical analysis) allowed to evaluate the synergistic effect of regional secondary particulate and long-transport contributions to PM10 concentrations at the sampling sites and to provide useful information in order to characterize the most relevant local emission sources.