The Brookhaven National Laboratory filter pack system for collection and determination of air pollutants

A filter pack system for sampling trace constituents in the atmosphere from aircraft and ground-based measurement platforms has been developed. The system simultaneously and quantitatively collects atmospheric aerosol, nitric acid, and sulfur dioxide using three sequential filter stages. The quartz aerosol filter is routinely analyzed for sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and hydrogen ions, and specifically for sulfuric acid. The sodium chloride filter is analyzed for nitrate ion (from collected nitric acid), and the carbonate-glycerine filter for sulfate ion (from collected sulfur dioxide). Details of the procedures used for filter preparation, sampling, extraction and analysis are given