Análisis de compuestos carbonílicos en Córdoba :

impacto en la calidad del aire

Abstract

Carbonyl compounds could be emitted into urban air from biogenic sources such as plants, and from anthropogenic sources related to human activity. The presence of carbonyl  compounds in urban air has a negative impact on the health of humans and biota.
In addition, the majority of these compounds are precursors of secondary atmospheric pollutants such as tropospheric ozone, the main component of photochemical smog. In the present work, 11 carbonyls were measured in the microcenter of the city of Córdoba, during the period from April to December 2021. Carbonyl compounds were measured using passive commercial Radiello® samplers, which were exposed for one week and posteriorly analyzed using HPLC-PDA. Annual average concentrations between 11.75-29.59 μg/m³ were obtained for all the carbonyls measured. Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were the most abundant, representing approximately 40-57% of the total carbonyls measured, with mean annual concentrations of 4.44 ± 1.75 μg/m³ and 3.85 ± 1.44 μg/m³, respectively. The measured concentration values were statistically correlated with meteorological variables, suggesting that for some carbonyls there is a possible influence of these variables on the concentration. The study of possible emission sources showed that the main sources of the measured carbonyls are anthropogenic sources, related to vehicular traffic. In addition, it was found that during the spring and summer seasons the concentration of carbonyls increases, and
this could result in an increase in the production of tropospheric ozone.