Sources identification of ammonium in PM 2.5 during monsoon season in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Ammonia (NH 3 ) is taken up by fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), and there are concerns about its impact on the environment and health. The source of NH 3, which was thought to be of agricultural sources, has recently been suspected to be non-agricultural sources in urban areas. Here, we collected PM 2.5 during the monsoon season in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the most polluted city in the world, and analyzed the δ 15 N-NH 4 + in PM 2.5. As the result, the δ 15 N-NH 4 + ranged from 9.2 ‰ to 34.4 ‰ (average: 20.7 ± 4.8 ‰), the highest of any of the averaged values annual reported in previous researches. In order to perform source analysis, the NH 3 concentrations were estimated using the thermodynamic model ISORROPIA-II. The estimated concentration of NH 3 gas averaged 40.8 μg/m 3 (3.0–154.6 μg/m 3 ). The contributions calculated with the mixing model to the δ 15 N-NH 4 + values in PM 2.5 in Dhaka, Bangladesh averaged 25.3 ± 14 %, 22.8 ± 10 %, 26.5 ± 15 %, and 25.4 ± 10 % for waste, fertilizer, NH 3 slip, and fossil fuel combustion, respectively. Non-agricultural sources (NH 3 slip, and fossil fuel combustion) accounted for almost half (51.9 %) of the contributions. In addition, the several validation tests of the isotope mixing model were also performed. For validating the uncorrected and corrected source data for δ 15 N-NH 3, the contribution of non-agricultural sources with uncorrected source data would have been very high (>80 %), much higher than the corrected source data.