ORIGINAL PAPER
Factorization methods applied to characterize the sources of volatile organic compounds in Montreal, Quebec
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1
University of Québec at Outaouais, Gatineau, Canada
(Department of Computer Science)
2
Ottawa University, Ottawa, Canada
(Department of Mathematics and Statistics)
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2016;29(1):15-39
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ABSTRACT
Objectives: The study objective was to assemble emission characteristics of the sources of the ambient volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and to elaborate methods of organizing them into the sources’ chemical profiles. Material and Methods: The UNMIX – sensor modeling method from the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) – was used to process
the VOC concentration data acquired over the years 2000–2009 for 175 VOC species in 4 air quality monitoring stations
in Montreal, Quebec. Results: The method enabled to assess VOC emissions from the typically distributed sources existing
in urban environment and VOC occurrences characterizing the local, or point-like, sources. The distributed sources
were inextricably associated with hydrocarbons from exhaust, heavier hydrocarbons from contaminated urban soil, fugitive
evaporations of gasoline and liquefied petroleum gases (LPG), leakage from the industrial and commercial use of
solvents, and the inert, ozone depleting gases permeating urban atmosphere. The sources’ profiles were charted involving
60–120 VOC species per source. Spatial distribution of the sources was examined. Conclusions: The UNMIX application
and the source profiling methods, by building robust chemical profiles of VOC sources, provided information that can
be used to assign the measured VOC emissions to physical sources. This, in turn, provides means of assessing the impact of
environmental policies, on one hand, and of industrial activities on the other hand on VOC air pollution.