Organic components in size-separated aerosols from the western North Pacific

Marine aerosols in the western North Pacific were collected using a cascade impactor. Size-separated aerosols were analyzed for organic carbon, alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The results showed that the rate of decrease of the atmospheric concentrations of these organic components with increase in distance from Japan as well as from the coast of the Eurasian Continent was in the order PAHalkanes>organic carbon. The bulk of all these organic components occurred in the smallest size fraction of particles (<1m). Analysis of the alkanes and PAH indicated that the hydrocarbons in aerosols in Japanese coastal marine areas are primarily derived from terrestrial anthropogenic sources which also contribute to a lesser extent to aerosols in marine areas about 1,000 km off the coast of Japan. In remote marine areas the hydrocarbons on small particles (<1m) have principally a natural terrestrial origin while those on larger particles are marine in origin.