UHPLC-(+)APCI-MS/MS determination of oxygenated and nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in airborne particulate matter and tree barks collected in Buenos Aires city

A study was undertaken to evaluate the content of oxygenated and nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OPAHs and NPAHs) in airborne particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), and tree barks. For PM2.5 and PM10 collection different approaches were followed using different type of filters and sample collectors. Samples of PM2.5 were collected on glass fiber filters during one month with a medium volume sampler. For PM10, glass and quartz fiber filters were used and samples were collected simultaneously for one week using a high volume sampler. In addition, bark samples were collected at the same sites. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-APCI-MS/MS) was used for PAHs derivatives quantification. Data acquisition under MS/MS was achieved by applying multiple reaction monitoring to provide a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. Chromatographic separation was performed on a reverse phase rapid resolution column using a gradient mode (total run time: 5.0 min). The study evidenced that in airborne particles matter, four PAHs derivatives were detected at concentrations from 0.01 to 240.62 ng m-3 (or 0.3 µg g-1 to 30 mg g-1). Meanwhile, in tree barks, only OPAHs were detected at concentrations varying from 0.18 to 0.72 µg g-1.Fil: Fujiwara, Fabián Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Guiñez, María Evangelina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Cerutti, Estela Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Smichowski, Patricia Nora. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Gerencia Quimica. CAC; Argentin

Direct analysis of Antarctic krill by slurry sampling: determination of copper, iron, manganese and zinc by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

Slurry sampling in combination with flame atomic absorption spectrometry was employed for the direct determination of four essential trace elements, namely Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn in Antarctic krill. The effect of instrumental operating conditions and slurry sampling preparation on the analytical signal was investigated. For the determination of Cu, Fe and Zn, samples were suspended in a solution containing 2 mol L-1 HNO3. In the case of Mn, 4 mol L-1 HNO3 was necessary for the preparation of the slurry. The precision between sample replicates was better than 5%. The method was applied to the direct determination of Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn in Antarctic krill samples using aqueous reference solutions to prepare the calibration curves. The results obtained were in good agreement with those achieved by FAAS and ICP-AES after microwave-assisted wet digestion of the krill samples. The detection limits were 4.5, 1.0, 4.9 and 8.4 mug L-1 for Cu, Zn, Mn and Fe, respectively.A técnica de amostragem de suspensão aliada à espectrometria de absorção atômica com chama foi empregada para a determinação direta de Cu, Fe, Mn e Zn em matrizes de Krill antártico. O efeito dos parâmetros instrumentais e o preparo das suspensões foram estudados em função do sinal analítico. Para a determinação de Cu, Fe e Zn, as amostras foram suspensas em uma solução de HNO3 2,0 mol L-1 e para a determinação de Mn, o krill foi suspenso em uma solução de HNO3 4,0 mol L-1. A precisão entre as replicas foi melhor que 5 %. A metodologia foi aplicada para a determi-nação direta de Cu, Fe, Mn e Zn em amostras de krill antártico, usando padrões aquosos no preparo das curvas analíticas. Os resultados obtidos estão concordantes com os encontrados na determinação por FAAS e ICP-AES, depois da digestão das amostras em um forno de microondas. Os limites de detecção foram 4,5; 1,0; 4,9 e 8,4 mig L-1 para Cu, Zn, Mn e Fe, respectivamente.365370Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Optimization of methods to assess levels of As, Bi, Sb and Se in airborne particulate matter by FI-HG-ICP OES

A study was undertaken to assess the level of selected trace elements namely, As, Bi, Sb and Se in airborne particulate matter collected on ash-free glass-fibre filters from urban and industrial areas of Argentina. For sample digestion, a simple acid treatment with HCl + HF is proposed with the aim to minimize contamination and reduce sample treatment steps. A flow injection-hydride generation system in combination with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry was used. While, Se and Bi could be determined directly from the digest, As and Sb needed a pre-reduction with KI, and H3BO3 to avoid the interference of F- ions that may cause losses via volatile compounds such as AsF3 and Sb(v) complexes. Limits of detection (3σ) of 0.3 ng m-3 for As; 0.09 ng m-3 for Bi, and 0.1 ng m-3 for Sb and Se were achieved. Precision resulted in better than 6.1% accuracy for all the elements determined. Accuracy test was assessed by means of the certified reference material, NIST 1648 (urban particulate matter).Fil: Savio, Marianela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Pacheco, Pablo Hugo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, Luis Dante. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Smichowski, Patricia Nora. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gil, Raul Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; Argentin

Online solid phase extraction-HPLC-ICP-MS system for mercury and methylmercury preconcentration using functionalised carbon nanotubes for their determination in dietary supplements

A hyphenated system was developed for Hg(ii) and methylmercury (MeHg) preconcentration and speciation analysis by the online coupling of solid phase extraction (SPE), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Both analytes, Hg(ii) and MeHg, were preconcentrated on a microcolumn filled with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) functionalised with poly-l-methionine (polymet-MWCNTs). During the method development the sorbent material was carefully studied and the solid phase extraction conditions were optimised. An enrichment factor of 190 for Hg(ii) and MeHg was obtained when 20 mL of sample was passed through the microcolumn. For the chromatographic separation, a mobile phase composed of a ternary mixture of 0.5% formic acid + 0.2% 2-mercaptoethanol + 20% methanol was used. Separation of both mercurial species was accomplished in ∼10 min on a 250 mm C18 column. The detection limits of the SPE-HPLC-ICP-MS method were 15 ng L−1 for Hg(ii) and 17 ng L−1 for MeHg. The relative standard deviations of peak area for 5 ng L−1 of each Hg species were below 5%. Recoveries of Hg(ii) and MeHg were never less than 93%. For checking the accuracy, BCR 643-tuna fish and TORT-3 lobster hepatopancreas certificate reference materials were analysed. Mercury species were determined in spiked fish oil-based dietary supplements and Antarctic water.Fil: Londonio, Juan Agustín. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Hasuoka, Paul Emir. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Pacheco, Pablo Hugo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Gil, Raul Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Smichowski, Patricia Nora. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentin

A novel on-line preconcentration method for trace molybdenum determination by USN-ICP OES with biosorption on immobilized yeasts

A new system for on-line preconcentration of molybdenum by sorption on a minicolumn associated to inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectrometry with ultrasonic nebulization was studied. It is based on the sorption of molybdenum on a column packed with immobilized baker's yeasts on controlled pore glass without further complexing reagent. The molybdenum preconcentrated by biosorption was subsequently eluted with hydrochloric acid. Considering a sample flow rate of 5.0 mL min- 1, 10 mL of sample was preconcentrated in 2 min achieving a sensitive total enhancement factor of 480-fold, and the detection limit (3 s) obtained was 21 ng L- 1. Additionally, the calculated precisions expressed as percent relative standard deviation (RSD%) was 1.9%. Satisfactory results were obtained for the determination of molybdenum in standard reference material NIST 1643e Trace Elements in Water and real water samples.Fil: Gil, Raul Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Pasini Cabello, Sergio David. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Departamento de Química. Área de Química Analítica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Takara, Eduardo Andres. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Departamento de Química. Área de Química Analítica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Smichowski, Patricia Nora. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Olsina, Roberto Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, Luis Dante. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; Argentin

Plasma-based techniques applied to the determination of 17 elements in partitioned top soils

An investigation was carried out to characterize top soils collected in a prototypical urban area impacted by industrial and agricultural activities. Soils of the studied zone receive also the contribution of traffic from the urban area, marine aerosols from the Atlantic Ocean and dust from the Patagonian steppe. Top soil samples were sampled and then sieved in two fractions (F1 < 37 μm, and 37 < F2 < 50 μm) for subsequent digestion using an acid mixture containing HCl, HNO3 and HF (6:2:1). Elemental determination of Al, As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Ti, V and Zn was carried out by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) and/or inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Accuracy tests for the entire analytical procedure were performed by means of the certified reference material NIST SRM 2711 Montana soil. Limit of detection reached varied from 0.08 μg g− 1 (Cd) to 2.4 μg g− 1 (Ba). Elemental concentrations ranged from 0.10 ± 0.01 μg g− 1 (Mo) to 14.6 ± 0.6% (Ca). Aluminum, Ca, Fe, Mg and Ti (geological elements) were found at concentrations in the percentage order. The ratios of elemental concentrations Mo/Ca, Ni/Ca and Ti/Ca were identified as chemical markers suitable for distinguishing the different soil samples by exposing the relative differences in the 4-element chemical profile. The concentrations of metals and metalloids in size-fractionated top soils reported in this study will be an important tool for future studies aimed to characterize soil resuspension and its contribution to airborne particulate matter.Fil: Morales del Mastro, Anabella Mabel. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Londonio, Juan Agustín. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Jiménez Rebagliati, Raúl Alberto Jorge. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Pereyra, Marcelo Tomas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Química del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Química. Instituto de Química del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Dawidowski, Laura Elena. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Gómez, Darío. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Smichowski, Patricia Nora. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Comparative study of the atmospheric chemical composition of three South American cities

PM10 samples were collected in 2008 at three sites in South America in the framework of an international project (South American Emissions Megacities, and Climate; SAEMC). The concentration of metals, metalloids, ion and organic compounds of most PM10 samples collected at three sites (Buenos Aires (BAI), Bogotá (BOG) and São Paulo (SPA)) is below the air quality standard of the respective countries. At the sites n-alkanes and carbon preference index distribution indicated the influence of petroleum residues derived from vehicular emissions. Most PAH detected are attributed to light-duty gasoline vehicles and to stationary sources. At all sites benzo[a]pyrene equivalent values mean a significant cancer risk. Sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, calcium and sodium are the most abundant water-soluble ions at the three sites. Ammonium sulfate is likely the form presented for these species formed by photochemical reactions of precursors emitted mainly by vehicles. At BAI and SPA, formate/acetate ratios indicated the contribution of photochemical reactions; on the contrary, at BOG site, acetate is predominant, indicating strong contribution of vehicular emissions. São Paulo samples showed the highest concentrations of elements among all the sites. None of the toxic or potentially toxic elements exceed the guideline values of the World Health Organization. At BAI site earth crust seems to be the major source of Fe and Mn; at SPA, anthropogenic source is responsible for Pb and Zn presences. Traffic related element is well correlated at the three sites.Fil: Vasconcellos, Pérola C.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Souza, Davi Z.. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Nucleares; BrasilFil: Ávila, Simone G.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Araújo, Maria P.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Naoto, Edson. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Nascimento, Kátia H.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Cavalcante, Fernando S.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Dos Santos, Marina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Smichowski, Patricia Nora. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Behrentz, Eduardo. Universidad de los Andes; Colombi

Caracterización de jugos de uva comerciales en base al perfil mineral y análisis quimiométrico no supervisado

Actualmente el consumo de alimentos y bebidas naturales, libres de conservantes, ha aumentado significativamente. El jugo de uva es una bebida derivada del género Vitis sp., principalmente de V. vinífera, la cual presenta sustancias bioactivas de origen fenólico con propiedades oxidantes, cardioprotectoras y antiinflamatorias1. La identificación del origen geográfico de alimentos y bebidas es actualmente un aspecto relevante a la hora de identificar la calidad y autenticidad de un producto. En este contexto, el objetivo de este trabajo se propuso caracterizar jugos de uva comerciales de tres países de Sudamérica (Argentina, Brasil y Chile), principales productores y exportadores de este producto, utilizando técnicas de reconocimiento de pautas no supervisadas, en base a su perfil mineral. Se determinaron por espectrometría de masas con plasma acoplado inductivamente 11 elementos: As, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pd, Rb, V, Y en 31 muestras de jugos comerciales de uva. Las muestras se agruparon de acuerdo al país en el que fueron adquiridas, 16 de Argentina (ARG), 5 de Chile (CHL) y 10 de Brasil (BRZ). En primer término, previo al análisis multielemental se mineralizaron las muestras mediante digestión ácida en vaso abierto con HNO3 (65%) de elevada pureza. La calidad del método analítico se evaluó mediante el método de adición de estándar. Una vez obtenidos los resultados se distribuyeron siguiendo un arreglo matricial en el que se ubicaron en las filas a las muestras y las concentraciones elementales en las columnas.Para el análisis quimiométrico de los resultados se utilizaron distintas técnicas de reconocimiento de pautas no supervisadas: análisis de componentes principales (ACP), análisis de conglomerados k-medias (kM). Previo al análisis quimiométrico, los datos fueron estandarizados para evitar problemas de dimensionalidad. El ACP reveló diferencias en la composición mineral de las muestras provenientes de ARG, caracterizadas por elevados contenidos de Fe, Mn y Cu. Las muestras de BRZ y CHL presentaron gran superposición entre los autovalores correspondientes, indicando una gran similitud composicional entre las mismas. Por su parte, el método kM generaró resultados congruentes con los observados en el ACP. El método de agrupación kM es un método iterativo en los que la noción de similitud se deriva de la proximidad de un punto de datos al centroide de los agrupamientos. Esta metodología requiere que se suministre de antemano el número de grupos esperados en la matriz de datos (valor k). Se ensayaron distintos valores para el valor k, lográndose resultados óptimos al utilizar k = 3 con un 94% de exactitud global, se utilizó validación cruzada (k-fold = 15) para evitar falsos resultados por sobreajuste.Fil: Canizo, Brenda Vanina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Laboratorio de Química Analítica para Investigación y Desarrollo; ArgentinaFil: Diedrichs, Ana Laura. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; ArgentinaFil: Londonio, Agustin. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Smichowski, Patricia. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Pellerano, Roberto Gerardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Wuilloud, Rodolfo German. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Laboratorio de Química Analítica para Investigación y Desarrollo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; Argentina10º Congreso Argentino de Química AnalíticaLa PampaArgentinaUniversidad Nacional de La PampaAsociación Argentina de Químicos Analítico

Determination of mercury in airborne particulate matter collected on glass fiber filters using high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and direct solid sampling

A study has been undertaken to assess the capability of high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry for the determination of mercury in airborne particulate matter (APM) collected on glass fiber filters using direct solid sampling. The main Hg absorption line at 253.652 nm was used for all determinations. The certified reference material NIST SRM 1648 (Urban Particulate Matter) was used to check the accuracy of the method, and good agreement was obtained between published and determined values. The characteristic mass was 22 pg Hg. The limit of detection (3σ), based on ten atomizations of an unexposed filter, was 40 ng g- 1, corresponding to 0.12 ng m- 3 in the air for a typical air volume of 1440 m3 collected within 24 h. The limit of quantification was 150 ng g-1, equivalent to 0.41 ng m-3 in the air. The repeatability of measurements was better than 17% RSD (n = 5). Mercury concentrations found in filter samples loaded with APM collected in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were between < 40 ng g-1 and 381 ± 24 ng g-1. These values correspond to a mercury concentration in the air between < 0.12 ng m-3 and 1.47 ± 0.09 ng m-3. The proposed procedure was found to be simple, fast and reliable, and suitable as a screening procedure for the determination of mercury in APM samples.Fil: Araujo, Rennan G. O.. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; BrasilFil: Vignola, Fabíola. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; BrasilFil: Castilho, Ivan N. B.. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; BrasilFil: Borges, Daniel L. G.. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; Brasil. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Welz, Bernhard. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; Brasil. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Vale, Maria Goreti R.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Smichowski, Patricia Nora. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ferreira, Sérgio L. C.. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Becker Ross, Helmut. Leibniz-Institut für Analytische Wissenschaften; Alemani

Structural signatures of water-soluble organic aerosols in contrasting environments in South America and Western Europe

This study describes and compares the key structural units present in water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) fraction of atmospheric aerosols collected in different South American (Colombia – Medellín and Bogotá, Peru – Lima, Argentina – Buenos Aires, and Brazil – Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Porto Velho, during moderate (MBB) and intense (IBB) biomass burning) and Western European (Portugal – Aveiro and Lisbon) locations. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy was employed to assess the relative distribution of non-exchangeable proton functional groups in aerosol WSOC of diverse origin, for the first time to the authors’ knowledge in South America. The relative contribution of the proton functional groups was in the order H-C > H–C–C= > H-C-O > Ar-H, except in Porto Velho during MBB, Medellín, Bogotá, and Buenos Aires, for which the relative contribution of H-C-O was higher than that of H-C-C=. The 1H NMR source attribution confirmed differences in aging processes or regional sources between the two geographic regions, allowing the differentiation between urban combustion-related aerosol and biological particles. The aerosol WSOC in Aveiro, Lisbon, and Rio de Janeiro during summer are more oxidized than those from the remaining locations, indicating the predominance of secondary organic aerosols. Fresh emissions, namely of smoke particles, becomes important during winter in Aveiro and São Paulo, and in Porto Velho during IBB. The biosphere is an important source altering the chemical composition of aerosol WSOC in South America locations. The source attribution in Medellín, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, and Lima confirmed the mixed contributions of biological material, secondary formation, as well as urban and biomass burning emissions. Overall, the information and knowledge acquired in this study provide important diagnostic tools for future studies aiming at understanding the water-soluble organic aerosol problem, their sources and impact at a wider geographic scale.Fil: Duarte, Regina M.B.O.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Matos, João T.V.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Paula, Andreia S.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Lopes, Sónia P.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Pereira, Guilherme. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Vasconcellos, Pérola. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Gioda, Adriana. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Carreira, Renato. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Silva, Artur M.S.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Duarte, Armando C.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Smichowski, Patricia Nora. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Rojas, Nestor. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Sanchez Ccoyllo, Odon. No especifíca