Biomedical Omics Group, Korea Basic Science Institute, Cheongju 28119, Republic of Korea; Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Korea University, Sejong 30019, Republic of Korea.
Mass Spectrometry and Advanced Instrumentation Group, Korea Basic Science Institute, Cheongju 28119, Republic of Korea.
Environ Pollut. 2017 Jun;225:329-337. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.02.058. Epub 2017 Mar 6.
Airborne particulate matter consisting of ionic species, salts, heavy metals and carbonaceous material is one of the most serious environmental pollutants owing to its impacts on the environment and human health. Although elemental and organic carbon compounds are known to be major components of aerosols, information on the elemental composition of particulate matter remains limited because of the broad range of compounds involved and the limits of analytical instruments. In this study, we investigated water-soluble and -insoluble organic compounds in fine (PM) airborne particles collected during winter in Korea to better understand the elemental compositions and distributions of these compounds. To collect ultra-high-resolution mass profiles, we analyzed water-soluble and -insoluble organic compounds, extracted with water and dichloromethane, respectively, using an ultra-high-resolution 15 T Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (15T FT-ICR) mass spectrometer in positive ion mode (via both electrospray ionization [ESI] and atmospheric pressure photoionization [APPI] for water-extracts and via APPI for dichloromethane-extracts). In conjunction with the FT-ICR mass spectrometry (MS) data, subsequent two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) data were used to identify potentially hazardous organic components, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. This analysis provided information on the sources of ambient particles collected during winter season and partial evidence of contributions to the acidity of organic content in PM particles. The compositional and structural features of water-soluble and -insoluble organic compounds from PM particles are important for understanding the potential impacts of aerosol-carried organic substances on human health and global ecosystems in future toxicological studies.
空气中的悬浮颗粒由离子态物质、盐类、重金属和含碳物质组成，是最严重的环境污染物之一，因为它会对环境和人类健康造成影响。虽然元素碳和有机碳化合物是气溶胶的主要成分，但由于所涉及化合物的范围很广，以及分析仪器的限制，有关颗粒物元素组成的信息仍然有限。在这项研究中，我们研究了韩国冬季收集的细颗粒物（PM）中水溶性和不溶性有机化合物，以更好地了解这些化合物的元素组成和分布。为了收集超高分辨率的质量谱，我们使用超高分辩率 15T 傅里叶变换离子回旋共振（15T FT-ICR）质谱仪（正离子模式），分别对水和二氯甲烷提取的水溶性和不溶性有机化合物进行分析（水提取物通过电喷雾电离[ESI]和大气压光电离[APPI]，二氯甲烷提取物仅通过 APPI）。与 FT-ICR 质谱（MS）数据结合使用，二维气相色谱飞行时间质谱（GC×GC-TOFMS）数据随后用于识别潜在的有害有机成分，如多环芳烃。该分析提供了有关冬季收集的环境颗粒物来源的信息，并提供了部分证据表明这些颗粒物中的有机物质对酸度有贡献。PM 颗粒中水溶性和不溶性有机化合物的组成和结构特征对于了解气溶胶携带的有机物质对未来毒理学研究中人类健康和全球生态系统的潜在影响非常重要。
