Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published July 1990 | public
Journal Article

Nitric acid concentrations in southern California museums

Abstract

Measurements were made during two seasons at five Los Angeles area museums to determine the concentrations of nitric acid in outdoor and indoor air. Mean seasonal indoor nitric acid concentrations ranged from <0.1 to 1.5 µg/m^3 corresponding to less than 1-40% of the outdoor nitric acid concentration, depending on building construction and ventilation system design. A mathematical model was applied to determine whether indoor/outdoor HNO_3 concentration ratios can be predicted from data on building parameters and ventilation system design. Good agreement between predicted and measured values was found. The rates of deposition of total inorganic nitrate onto vertical surfaces due to gas-phase plus aerosol-phase pollutants were measured and found to vary from 0.2 to 5.8 ng m^(-2) s(^-1). Measurements indicate that nearly all of this deposition flux was delivered due to deposition of gas-phase species, but comparison to theoretical HN03 transport calculations suggests that gaseous species in addition to HNO_3 contribute to the observed accumulation of inorganic nitrate.

Additional Information

© 1990 American Chemical Society. Received for review November 14, 1989. Accepted March 12, 1990. This publication is based upon research that was supported (in part) by a Research Agreement from the Getty Conservation Institute. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Getty Conservation Institute of the J. Paul Getty Trust. We thank Theresa Fall and Paul Solomon for assistance in maintaining the air monitoring network. We also thank the staff at the following museums for their help in providing access to the museum sampling sites: the Sepulveda House, the Southwest Museum, the Norton Simon Museum, the Virginia Steele Scott Gallery, and the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023