RESEARCH ARTICLE Composition and source apportionment of saccharides in aerosol particles from an agro-industrial zone in the Indo-Gangetic Plain Muhammad Usman Alvi 1,2,3 & Magdalena Kistler 2 & Imran Shahid 4 & Khan Alam 5 & Farrukh Chishtie 6 & Tariq Mahmud 1 & Anne Kasper-Giebl 2 Received: 11 June 2019 /Accepted: 27 January 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract The characterization of saccharidic compounds in atmospheric aerosols is important in order to retrieve information about organic carbon sources and their transport pathways through the atmosphere. In this study, composition and sources of saccharides in PM 10 were determined in a South Asian megacity (Faisalabad) during the year 2015 – 2016. PM 10 sampled on quartz filters was analyzed by anion exchange chromatography for the selected saccharidic compounds. The average PM 10 concentration was found to be 744 ± 392 μgm -3 , exceeding the daily limits proposed by Pak-EPA (150 μgm -3 ), US-EPA (150 μgm -3 ), and WHO (50 μgm -3 ). The average total saccharidic concentration was found to be 2820 ± 2247 ng m -3 . Among the different saccharidic categories, anhydrosugars were the most abundant in concentration followed by primary sugars and sugar alcohols. The corre- lation and principal component analysis indicated emissions from biomass combustion, soil suspensions from areas such as farmlands having high microorganism activity, and biogenic emissions such as airborne fungal spores and vegetation detritus as major sources of saccharides in the aerosol samples. Keywords Carbohydrate profile . Urban aerosol characterization . Air quality . Characterization of saccharides . Levoglucosan Highlights 1. Composition and sources of saccharides in PM 10 were determined from an agro-industrial location in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. 2. The PM 10 values were crossing the limits fixed by Pak-EPA, US-EPA, and WHO. 3. The average total saccharidic concentration was found to be 2820 ng m -3 with marked seasonal variations. 4. Anhydrosugars were the most abundant saccharides followed by primary sugars and sugar alcohols. 5. Biomass combustion, soil suspensions, and biogenic emissions were estimated as major saccharidic sources. Responsible editor: Constantini Samara Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07905-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Imran Shahid Imran.shahid@grel.ist.edu.pk 1 Institute of Chemistry, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan 2 Institute for Chemical Technologies and Analytics, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria 3 Department of Chemistry, University of Okara, Okara, Pakistan 4 Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan 5 Department of Physics, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan 6 Spatial Informatics Group, Pleasonton, CA, USA Environmental Science and Pollution Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07905-2