The Mo
nterrey Metropolita
n Area (MMA) i
n Northeast Mexico has show
n high PM
2.5 co
nce
ntratio
ns si
nce 2003. The data shows that the a
nnual average co
nce
ntratio
n exceeds from 2 to 3 times the Mexica
n PM
2.5 a
nnual air quality sta
ndard of 12 µg/m
3. I
n a previous work we studied the chemical characterizatio
n of PM
2.5 i
n two sites of the MMA duri
ng the wi
nter seaso
n. Amo
ng the most importa
nt compo
ne
nts we fou
nd ammo
nium sulfate a
nd
nitrate, eleme
ntal a
nd orga
nic carbo
n, a
nd crustal matter. I
n this work we prese
nt the results of a seco
nd chemical characterizatio
n study performed duri
ng the summer time a
nd the applicatio
n of the chemical mass bala
nce (CMB) model to determi
ne the source apportio
nme
nt of air polluta
nts i
n the regio
n. The chemical a
nalysis results show that the chemical compositio
n of PM
2.5 is similar i
n both sites a
nd periods of the year. The results of the chemical a
nalysis a
nd the CMB model show that i
ndustrial, traffic, a
nd combustio
n activities i
n the area are the major sources of primary PM
2.5 a
nd precursor gases of seco
ndary i
norga
nic a
nd orga
nic aerosol (SO
2, NOx, NH
3, a
nd volatile orga
nic compou
nds [VOCs]). We also fou
nd that black carbo
n a
nd orga
nic carbo
n are importa
nt compo
ne
nts of PM
2.5 i
n the MMA. These results are co
nsiste
nt with the MMA emissio
n i
nve
ntory that reports as major sources of particles a
nd SO
2 a refi
nery a
nd fuel combustio
n, as well as
nitroge
n oxides a
nd ammo
nium from tra
nsportatio
n a
nd i
ndustrial activities i
n the MMA a
nd ammo
nium form agricultural activities i
n the state. The results of this work are importa
nt to ide
ntify a
nd support effective actio
ns to reduce direct emissio
ns of PM
2.5 a
nd its precursor gases to improve air quality i
n the MMA.
Implications: The Mo
nterrey Metropolita
n Area (MMA) has bee
n classified as the most air-polluted area i
n Mexico by the World Health Orga
nizatio
n (WHO). Effective actio
ns
need to be take
n to co
ntrol primary sources of PM
2.5 a
nd its precursors, reduci
ng health risks o
n the populatio
n exposed a
nd their associated costs. The results of this study ide
ntify the mai
n sources a
nd their estimated co
ntributio
n to PM
2.5 mass co
nce
ntratio
n, providi
ng valuable i
nformatio
n to the local e
nviro
nme
ntal authorities to take decisio
ns o
n PM
2.5 co
ntrol strategies i
n the MMA.
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