Therese Salameh

IMT Nord Europe

Tropospheric ozone results from in situ chemical formation and stratosphere–troposphere exchange (STE), with the latter being more important in the middle and upper troposphere than in the lower troposphere. Ozone photochemical formation is nonlinear and results from the oxidation of methane and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) in the presence of n...

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have a large impact on the oxidising capacity of the troposphere and are major precursors of tropospheric ozone and secondary atmospheric aerosols. Accurate measurements and data comparability of VOCs among monitoring networks are essential to assess the trends of these secondary air pollutants. Metrological tracea...

BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m,p,o-xylene) are significant urban air pollutants. This study examines BTEX variability across seven European countries using data from 22 monitoring sites in different urban settings (urban background, traffic, industry, and suburban background). Results indicate that the relative abundance of BTEX in urban a...

Atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) constitute a wide range of species, acting as precursors to ozone and aerosol formation. Atmospheric chemistry and transport models (CTMs) are crucial to understanding the emissions, distribution, and impacts of VOCs. Given the uncertainties in VOC emissions, lack of evaluation studies, and recent chang...

The Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS) officially became the 33 rd European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) on April 25, 2023 with the support of 17 founding member and observer countries. As a pan-European legal organization, ACTRIS ERIC will coordinate the provision of data and data products on short-lived...

Ozone formation is nonlinear, and results from the photochemical oxidation of methane and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) in the presence of nitrogen oxide (NOx=NO+NO2). Previous studies showed that O3 short- and long-term trends are nonlinearly controlled by near-surface anthropogenic emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds...

This study addressed the scarcity of NH 3 measurements in urban Europe and the diverse monitoring protocols, hindering direct data comparison. Sixty-nine datasets from Finland, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK across various site types, including industrial (IND, 8), traffic (TR, 12), urban (UB, 22), suburban (SUB, 12), and regional background (RB,...

Atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOC) constitute a wide range of species, acting as precursors to ozone and aerosol formation. Atmospheric chemistry and transport models (CTMs) are crucial to understanding the emissions, distribution, and impacts of VOCs. Given the uncertainties in VOC emissions, lack of evaluation studies, and recent change...

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs; e.g. terpenes) are highly reactive compounds typically present at sub-parts-per-billion mole fractions in the air. Due to this, their measurements are challenging and they may suffer losses during sampling, storage and analyses. Even though online measurements of BVOCs are becoming more common, the use of...

Outdoor air pollution is a major cause of chronic illness and of mortality, with an estimated 4.5 million deaths every year. Its effects are amplified in urban areas where the...

Biogenic Volatile Organic Compound (BVOCs; e.g. terpenes) are highly reactive compounds with very low amount fractions in the air. Due to this, their measurements are challenging and they may suffer losses during sampling, storage and analyses. In this study, the performance of an off-line technique for the measurement of BVOCs based on sorbent tub...

Air pollution causes chronic illnesses, and an estimated 4.5 million deaths every year. 70% of mankind is expected to live in cities by 2050, making urban areas key for air quality and related health issues. These areas are largely covered with asphalt pavements. Pollutant emissions from asphalts are generally investigated at 120-160 °C, temperatur...

Outdoor air pollution is the fourth cause of death worldwide, linked to around 4.2 million deaths per year. Air pollution is more severe in urban environments of cities/megacities, due to the high population density and intense anthropogenic activities. More than 50% of global population lives currently in urban areas, and a projected 70% is antici...

Terpenoids (isoprene and monoterpenes) are highly reactive Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) known for decades for their biogenic origin. Here, we discuss the nature and magnitude of their anthropogenic emissions. We compiled and re‐analyzed 14 data sets of in situ VOC observations collected over the last decade in contrasting urban areas from mid‐...

In this chapter, we present the current knowledge of the anthropogenic emissions of major gaseous and particulate pollutants in the Mediterranean basin. Anthropogenic emissions affect air quality and/or climate through (i) direct emission of greenhouse gases (mainly carbon dioxide), (ii) emission of indirect greenhouse gases (precursors of troposph...

Air pollution is exacerbated in cities, where pollution sources are numerous and located in a restrained area. Paved surfaces represent more than 40% of urban areas [Akbari et al., 2003], but the impact of asphalt surfaces on urban air quality has been overlooked. Although road abrasion particulate matter (PM) emissions have been well documented, a...

Outdoor air pollution is a major cause of chronic illnesses, and of mortality, with an estimated 4.5 million deaths every year. Its effects are amplified in cities, where 50% of the global population lives today; this number is expected to grow to 70% by 2050. Asphalt-covered surfaces represent 40% of urban areas. Although their emissions of pollut...

Levels and sources of non-Methane Hydrocarbons (NMHCs) were investigated at the urban background Thissio station, close to the historical center of Athens (Greece) from March 2016 to February 2017 (12 months), by means of an automated GC-FID. Alkanes dominated over aromatics and alkenes, with hourly mean levels ranging from detection limit up to 60...

An original time series of about 300 atmospheric measurements of a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was obtained at a remote Mediterranean station on the northern tip of Corsica (Ersa, France) over 25 months from June 2012 to June 2014. This study presents the seasonal variabilities of 35 selected VOCs and their various associated so...

An original time series of about 300 atmospheric measurements of a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has been obtained at a remote Mediterranean station on the northern tip of Corsica Island (Ersa, France) over 25 months from June 2012 to June 2014. This study presents the seasonal variabilities of 25 selected VOCs, and their various...

In the framework of the TRANSport Emissions and Mitigation in the East Mediterranean (TRANSEMED/ChArMEx) program, volatile organic compound (VOC) measurements were performed for the first time in Istanbul (Turkey) at an urban site in September 2014. One commercial gas chromatograph coupled to a flame ionization detector (GC–FID) and one proton tran...

A new online gas chromatographic method dedicated to biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) analysis was developed for the measurement of a 20 BVOC gaseous mixture (isoprene; β-pinene; α-pinene; limonene; ocimene; myrcene; sabinene; Δ3-carene; camphene; 1,8 cineole; terpinolene; linalool; α-phellandrene; nopinone; citral; α-terpinene; β-caryophy...

A new online gas chromatographic method dedicated to Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOC) analysis was developed for the measurement of a 20 BVOC gaseous mixture (isoprene, β-pinene, α-pinene, limonene, trans-β-ocimene, myrcene, sabinene, Δ³-carene, camphene, 1,8 cineole, terpinolene, linalool, α-phellandrene, nopinone, citral, α-terpinene, β...

In the framework of the TRANSport Emissions and Mitigation in the East Mediterranean (TRANSEMED/ChArMEx) program; Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) measurements were performed for the first time in Istanbul (Turkey) at an urban site in September 2014. One commercial gas-chromatograph coupled to a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and one proton tran...

Besides their impacts on health, BTEX play an important role in the formation of secondary organic aerosols and ozone for which limit values are regularly exceeded in Paris megacity and Ile de France region. An enrichment by a factor of 3 in the C7-C9 aromatic fraction in the Paris atmosphere compared to other northern mid-latitude cities was shown...

Trends of long-term observations and emission inventories suggest that traffic emissions will no longer dominate the concentrations of mono-aromatic compounds (i.e. TEX - Toluene, Xylenes and Ethylbenzene) in European urban areas. But the split limit between traffic and other emission sector contributions such as solvent use remains tenuous. Here l...

More than 7000 atmospheric measurements of over 60 C2-C16 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were conducted at a background site in Cyprus during a 1-month intensive field campaign held in March 2015. This exhaustive dataset consisted of primary anthropogenic and biogenic VOCs, including a wide range of source-specific tracers, and oxygenated VOCs (...

Health risks posed by ambient air pollutants to the urban Lebanese population have not been well characterized. The aim of this study is to assess cancer risk and mortality burden of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) and particulates (PM) based on two field-sampling campaigns conducted during summer and winter seasons in Beirut. Seventy NMHCs were a...

More than 7,000 atmospheric measurements of over sixty C2-C16 Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) have been conducted at a background site in Cyprus during a 1-month intensive field campaign held in March 2015. This exhaustive dataset consisted in primary anthropogenic and biogenic VOCs, including a wide range of source-specific tracers, and oxygenat...

The relative importance of eastern Mediterranean emissions is suspected to be largely underestimated compared to other regions worldwide. Here we use detailed speciated measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to evaluate the spatial heterogeneity of VOC urban emission composition and the consistency of regional and global emission invento...

Ambient air ranks number one among the natural resources vital to human beings, with an average individual daily need of 12 kg. Due to the specificities of the Mediterranean region (sunny, hot and dry climate; long-range transport converging over the basin), air pollution in reactive compounds over the Mediterranean is often higher than in most Eur...

The relative importance of Eastern Mediterranean emissions is suspected to be largely underestimated compared to other regions worldwide. Here we use detailed speciated measurements of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) to evaluate the spatial heterogeneity of VOC urban emission composition and the consistency of regional and global emission invento...

Among Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), the mono-aromatic compounds so-called BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylenes) and the intermediate volatility organic compounds (IVOC) with C>12 are two remarkable chemical families having high impact on health, as well as on the production of secondary pollutants like secondary organic aerosols (S...

We applied the positive matrix factorization model to two large data sets collected during two intensive measurement campaigns (summer 2011 and winter 2012) at a suburban site in Beirut, Lebanon, in order to identify NMHC (non-methane hydrocarbons) sources and quantify their contribution to ambient levels. Six factors were identified in winter and...

We applied the Positive Matrix Factorization model to two large datasets collected during two intensive measurement campaigns (summer 2011 and winter 2012) at a sub-urban site in Beirut, Lebanon, in order to identify NMHC sources and quantify their contribution to ambient levels. Six factors were identified in winter and five factors in summer. PMF...

Speciation of anthropogenic VOC emissions from observations in contrasted urban environments: a basis for emission inventory evaluation and the definition of CMIP (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project) historical emission inventory Thérèse Salameh1, Agnès Borbon1, Charbel Afif2, Stéphane Sauvage3, Nadine Locoge3 Claire Granier4 1 LISA, IPSL, CNRS...

Measurements of over 70 C2-C16 non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) were conducted in suburban Beirut (1.3 million inhabitants) in summer 2011 and winter 2012 during the Emission and Chemistry of Organic Carbon in the East Mediterranean (ECOCEM) field campaign. The levels of NMHCs observed exceeded by a factor of two in total volume the levels found in...

The chemical composition of emissions from the different anthropogenic sources of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) is essential for modeling and source apportionment studies. The speciated profiles of major NMHC sources in Lebanon, including road transport, gasoline vapor, power generation, and solvent use were established. Field sampling have been...

NMVOCs, emitted from various sources, are of particular interest since they contribute to the formation of tropospheric ozone, PAN and secondary organic aerosols resulting in negative impacts on human health, climate and on the environment. To identify abatement measures, a profound knowledge of emission sources and their composition is a prerequis...