Airborne particles, specifically nanoparticles, are identified health hazards and a key research domain in air pollution and climate change. We performed a systematic airport study to characterize real-time size and number density distribution, chemical composition and morphology of the aerosols (∼10 nm–10 μm) using complementary cutting-edge and novel techniques, namely optical aerosol analyzers, triple quad ICP-MS/MS and high-resolution STEM imaging. The total number density of aerosols, predominantly composed of nanoparticles, reached a maximum of 2 × 10⁶ cm⁻³ and is higher than reported values from any other international airport. We also provide evidence for a wide range of metal in aerosols, and emerging metals in nanoparticles (e.g., Zn and Ni). The geometric mean, median and 99th and 1st percentile values of observed nanoparticle number densities at the apron were 1.0 × 10⁵, 9.0 × 10⁴, 1.2 × 10⁶ and 9.3 × 10³ cm⁻³, respectively. These observations were statistically higher than corresponding measurements in downtown Montreal and at major highways during rush hour. This airport is thus a hotspot for nanoparticles containing emerging contaminants. The diurnal trends in concentrations exhibit peaks during flight and rush hours, showing correlations with pollutants such as CO. The HR-TEM-EDS provided evidence for nano-sized particles produced in combustion engines. Implications of our results for air pollution and health are discussed.

空气传播的颗粒，特别是纳米颗粒，被认为对健康有害，是空气污染和气候变化中的关键研究领域。我们进行了系统的机场研究，以使用先进的互补性和新颖技术（即光学气溶胶分析仪，三重四极杆ICP-MS）表征气溶胶的实时尺寸和数量密度分布，气溶胶的化学成分和形态（约10 nm–10μm）。 MS / MS和高分辨率STEM成像。主要由纳米颗粒组成的气溶胶的总密度最大达到2×10 ⁶  cm ^-3并且高于任何其他国际机场的报告值。我们还提供了气溶胶中各种金属和纳米颗粒中的新兴金属（例如Zn和Ni）的证据。的几何均值，中值和第99和第一百分在围裙观察纳米颗粒数密度的值分别为1.0×10 ⁵，9.0×10 ⁴，1.2×10 ⁶和9.3×10 ³ 厘米^-3， 分别。这些观测值在统计上高于高峰时段在蒙特利尔市区和主要高速公路上的相应测量值。因此，该机场是包含新兴污染物的纳米颗粒的热点。浓度的昼夜趋势在飞行和高峰时段显示出峰值，表明与诸如CO之类的污染物相关。HR-TEM-EDS为内燃机产生的纳米级颗粒提供了证据。讨论了我们的结果对空气污染和健康的影响。