14C content in aerosols in Mexico City

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section B, Beam interactions with materials and atoms Vol. 371; pp. 365 - 369
• Main Authors: Gómez, V., Solís, C., Chávez, E., Andrade, E., Ortiz, M.E., Huerta, A., Aragón, J., Rodríguez-Ceja, M., Martínez, M.A., Ortiz, E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-03-2016
• Subjects: 14C analysis; Aerosols; Biomass burning; Carbon; Carbon dioxide; Constants; Environmental applications; Fossils; Iron; Mathematical analysis; Mexico City; Environmental applications; Mexico City; 14C analysis
• ISSN: 0168-583X; 1872-9584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nimb.2015.10.003

14C-AMS of total carbon was determined in aerosols (PM10 fraction), collected in Mexico City during two weeks from 21 November to 3 December 2012. Other tracers such as total carbon (TC), organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC) and trace element contents were also determined. F14C values varied from 0.39 to 0.48 with an average of 0.43. These values are slightly lower than those previously obtained for PM2.5 in 2003 and 2006 and reflect a high contribution of fossil CO2 to the carbonaceous matter in aerosols from Mexico City. In contrast, from 2006 to 2012 PM10 increased; EC, Ca, Ti and Fe concentrations remained constant, while OC, TC and K concentrations decreased. The use of potassium as an indicator of biomass burning showed that this source was negligible during this campaign. Combined analytical approaches allowed us to distinguish temporal variations of anthropogenic and natural inputs to the F14C.