Sources of Particulate Matter in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region: Investigation through a Comparison of Trace Metal Measurement Techniques.

摘要

The province of Alberta is home to three oil sands regions which, combined, contain the third largest deposit of oil in the world. Of these, the Athabasca Oil Sands Region is the largest. In conjunction with Environment Canada's Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring program, concentrations of trace metal(oid)s in PM2.5 were measured during a long-term filter campaign and a short-term, semi-continuous measurement, campaign. The data from the two campaigns were analysed individually using positive matrix factorization. Seven emission sources of PM2.5 were thereby identified: two types of Upgrader Emissions, Soil, Haul Road Dust, Biomass Burning, and two sources of mixed origin. Overall, most of the PM2.5 related metal(oid)s was found to be anthropogenic, or to be aerosolized through anthropogenic activities. These emissions may in part explain the elevation of metals in the snow, water, and biota previously reported for samples collected near the oil sands operations.