| Abstract: | Inhalable aerosols collected in downtown Milan during a whole‐year field campaign (from November 2000 to October 2001) were investigated to determine amounts of n‐alkanes, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), including benzoa]pyrene (BaP), nitrated PAH (NPAH), and monocarboxylic n‐alkanoic acids. Combustion processes including vehicle emission were confirmed as the most important sources affecting air quality, whereas release of organic material from biota contributed a few percent. The occurrence of in‐situ reactions in the atmosphere promoted by oxidants modified, to some extent, the composition of both PAH and NPAH fractions, by reducing the amount of BaP present in the aerosols and increasing that of NPAH. |
