Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory
At the Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory (ACL) of IERSD, targeted measurements are conducted for chemical compounds harmful to the environment and public health, with an emphasis on particulate matter.
Samples collected at the Urban Background Air Pollution Monitoring Superstation at the NOA facilities in Thissio are analyzed using modern determination methods, targeting components included in the new EU Air Quality Directive (2024/2881/CE), such as brown carbon and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). These compounds are measured with a semi-automatic system developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology, which was the first of its kind used for such measurements in Greece since 2016. The system is participating for the second consecutive year in a pan-European interlaboratory exercise (intercomparison). In collaboration with Universities and Research Centers in Greece and abroad, the possibility is also provided for analyses of components not currently included in the ACL’s direct analyses, such as chromatographic analysis for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and ion chromatography.
In the near future, the new Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory of IERSD will be equipped with cutting-edge equipment and instrumentation that will cover the widest possible range of chemical analyses of atmospheric samples, such as chromatographic analyses (gas and liquid chromatography), metal analyses with inductively coupled plasma, total and organic carbon, etc.