Environtr~nt International, Vol. 17, pp. 405-419, 1991 0160-4120/91 $3.00 + .00 Printed in the U.S.A. All right=reserved. Copyright © 1991 Pergamon Press pie COMPOSITION OF EXTRACTABLE ORGANIC MATTER OF AEROSOLS FROM THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND SOUTHEAST COAST OF AUSTRALIA Bernd R.T. Simoneit EnvironmentalGeochemistry Group, College of Oceanography,Oregon State University,Corvallis, OR 97331, USA P.T. Crisp School of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2033, Australia M.A. Mazurek* and L.J. Standley** EnvironmentalGeochemistry Group, College of Oceanography,Oregon State University,Corvallis, OR 97331, USA El 9001-005M (Received 29 January 1990; accepted I December I990) Extractable organic matter in aerosols from the Australian Blue Mountains and southeastern coast was characterized and compared to a composite sample of the regional vegetation and aerosols collected in New Zealand by Gagoaian et al. (1987). The lipid fraction of the aerosols was comprised primarily of n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids, and n-alkanols, with triterpenoids and phytosterols contributing significantly to the signature. Except for one sample, the aerosols were demonstrated to originate mainly from biogenic rather than anthropogenic sources. Two of the aerosol samples correlated well with the n-alkane signature of the plant wax extract. The resemblance was less distinct for the n-alkanoic acid and n-alkanol fractions. Of the cyclic terpenoids, only triter- penoids were present in the aerosols. Sesquiterpenoids were found in the plant wax sample but not in the aerosols, most probably due to volatilization. Diterpanes were undetected in both aerosol and wax samples. Based on a preliminary comparison, long range transport of these lipids appears to be occurring by the Southern Hemisphere westerlies. INTRODUCTION The lipids (solvent soluble organic compounds >C12) found in atmospheric aerosols contain natural products, anthropogenic components and, in arid regions, geological components from erosion of sedi- ments and soils (e.g., Mazurek and Simoneit 1984; Simoneit et al. 1988; Standley and Simoneit 1987; Simoneit 1984a,b, 1985, 1986a, 1989; Simoneit and *Present address: Environmental Chemistry Division, Brook- haven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973. **Present address: Stroud Water Research Center, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Avondaie, PA 19311. Mazurek 1982, 1989). The term "aerosol" is used in this paper to mean aerosol particles collected on fiber filters by a high volume air sampler. The aerosols are unsegregated with respect to particle size. Lipids are useful tracers for determining the origin of organic matter associated with aerosol particles which, in turn, is important for monitoring air quality in urban centers and for tracing long range aerosol transport by global winds. Carbonaceous particles are an im- portant component of visibility-reducing aerosols in urban areas (e.g., Gray et al. 1986; Hildemann 1989) and the associated lipids can be used to estimate contributions from biogenic and anthropogenic 405