No-Methane Hydrocarbon Compounds and primary and secondary gaseous pollutants in ambient air of Rome: their contribution to ozone formation

In this paper the results of an air quality study in Rome are reported and the contribution of no-methane and aromatic hydrocarbons to the ozone formation have been investigated. The research has been carried out by means of an intensive sampling campaign in January 1998, using both traditional methods of analysis and sampling, and innovative methods for the determination of primary and/or secondary pollutants and of traditional photochemical tracers, i.d. O3 and NO2. In particular, about 30 no-methane and aromatic hydrocarbons have been identified and quantified in 50 air samples collected by canisters and analyzed by gas-chromatography, in the atmosphere of Rome; ozone, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde and nitrogen monoxide have been determined by means of an innovative method with high technology (Differential Optical Absorption Spectrometry) and/or with analyzers on-line. The results obtained show that the m-xylene, the toluene and 1,2,4-trimetilbenzene are the compounds that compete in better percentage to the formation of ozone in Rome. The main pollution source has been identified as the Liquefied Petroleum Gas leakage.