Chemical analysis of airborne fine particulate matter emitted from different types of crude oil slick due to bubble bursting

In this study, the chemical constituents of the airborne fine particulate matter (those finer than 2.5 micrometer) emitted from a seawater tank covered with crude oil (MC252 surrogate) slick of 0.5 mm, before and after mixing with dispersant (Corexit 9500A, dispersant to oil ratios of 1:25 and 1:100) was determined. Aerosol generation was facilitated through the bursting of air bubbles injected at a controlled diameter of 0.6 mm into a vertical seawater column. PM2.5 particles were also size-fractioned into 13 size bins covering <60 nm to 12.1 µm on 81-mm filters using a low-pressure cascade impactor. Chemical analysis was conducted through the development of a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) technique to efficiently extract organic compounds from quartz filters using n-pentane solvent.