Abstract

Organic Aerosols play an important but poorly understood role in the climate system. Through direct and indirect effects they are strongly influencing the radiative budget of the atmosphere. Aerosol particles are also recognized to be one of the main air pollution components causing a variety of negative health effects. The chemical composition of particles is of key importance for climate and health related aspects but is often not well characterized.

The formation and composition of mostly organic atmospheric particles will be discussed. Organic aerosol particles, formed through atmospheric oxidation reactions and/or condensation are highly complex and conventional analytical techniques often fail to characterize the majority of the organic aerosol mass. New analytical techniques such as ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry are promising tools to gain unprecedented and detailed insights into particle sources, formation processes and composition. The effect of atmospherically relevant particles onto lung cell cultures will be discussed together with new techniques to quantify potential health relevant particle components.