THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF INORGANIC AND CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS IN PM10 FROM URBAN AND RURAL ALGERIAN AREAS

PM10 samples were collected at urban and rural sites in Algiers-Boumerdes, and three monitoring campaigns were done in summer and autumn 2007 and summer 2008. Quartz fiber filters of 47 mm diameter were used as collection substrates. The resulting samples were analysed for inorganic ions, elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC). Sulphate and particulate organic matter (POM) were the two most abundant constituents in all aerosol samples. Sulphate accounted for an average of 17.38-19.04% of the total urban aerosol and 20.80% of the total aerosol at the rural site, while the POM represent between 44.51 and 47.61% of the total mass aerosol identified in all sites studied, with a high contribution of POM recorded at the rural site. WSOC was a significant portion of OC, accounting for about one-third of OC fraction at the urban sites in all campaign samplings, and 56% of OC at the rural site in summer 2008. Sulphate (SO42-), ammonium (NH4+), and nitrate (NO3-) were the predominant ionic species in all sites studied.