Controlled bench scale pulverized coal combustion studies were performed,demonstrating that inorganic particles play a critical role as carriers oforganic species. Two commonly-used aerosol mass spectrometry techniques wereapplied to characterize fine particle formation during coal combustion. Itwas found that the organic species in coal combustion aerosols have massspectra similar to those generated by biomass combustion. Ambientmeasurements in Shanghai, China confirm the presence of these species inapproximately 29–38% of the sampled particles. With the absence ofmajor biomass sources in the Shanghai area, it is suggested that coalcombustion may be the main source of these particles. This work indicatesthere is a significant potential for incorrect apportionment of coalcombustion particles to biomass burning sources using widely adopted massspectrometry techniques.
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