Dr. Ewa Dabek-Zlotorzynska, FCIC

Senior Research Scientist - Head, Particulate Characterization, Analysis and Air Quality Section

Current research and/or projects

Contributing to Environment Canada's initiatives to protect the health of Canadians and the environment from the harmful effects of air pollutants or other harmful or dangerous substances.

  • Develop information on levels and sources of atmospheric aerosols across Canada under the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda (CARA)
  • Research on polar carbonaceous aerosols to better understand emissions and atmospheric processes under the Program of Energy Research and Development (PERD)
  • Research on emerging metallic contaminants in atmospheric aerosols and other environmental matrices under the Chemicals Management Plan (CMP)
  • Development of innovative analytical methods (IC, CE-DAD/LIF/MS, LC-DAD/MS, ICP-MS, etc.) to determining priority and new contaminants in ambient air and vehicle emissions, and other environmental matrices
  • Provide leadership and management of analytical chemistry laboratories for the National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) network and other programs  

Professional activities / interests

Member of Editorial Board, Electrophoresis (2005-09)

Organizer and Co-organizer of Conference Sessions and Workshops (EnviroAnalysis; International Ion Chromatography Symposium, 4th Canadian/Russian Workshop on "Analysis of Toxic Substances", etc); Invited lecturer and keynote speaker on a range of topics in analytical chemistry

Collaborates nationally and internationally both in government and academia; leading a research group comprising staff scientists, postdoctoral fellows and students; Adjunct Professor, Carleton University, Department of Chemistry, Ottawa, ON.

Education and awards

Departmental Citation of Excellence from Environment Canada (June 2008, June 2011)

M.Sc., Ph.D., (Chemistry), Warsaw University, Poland

Postdoctoral fellowships, Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, IL); University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)

Key publications

Dabek-Zlotorzynska, E., T.F. Dann, P.K. Martinelango V. Celo, D. Mathieu, L. Ding, J.R. Brook and C. Austin. 2011. Canadian National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) PM2.5 Speciation Program: Methodology and PM2.5 Chemical Composition for the Years 2003 to 2008. Atm. Environ. 45: 673-686.

Jeong, C-H., M. McGuire, D. Herod, T. Dann, E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska, D. Wang, L. Ding, V. Celo, D. Mathieu and G. Evans. 2011. Receptor Modeling Based Identification of the Sources of PM2.5 in Canadian Cities. Atmos. Poll. Res. 2: 156-171.

Schmitt-Kopplin, Ph., A. Gelencsér, E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska,  G. Kiss,  N. Hertkorn,  H. Mourad , Y. Hong and I. Gebefügi. 2010. Analysis of the Unresolved Organic Fraction in Atmospheric Aerosols with Ultrahigh Resolution Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy: Organosulfates as Photochemical Smog Constituents. Anal. Chem. 82: 8017-8026.

Yassine, M.M.and E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska. 2010. Application of Liquid Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry to the Determination of Aromatic Polycarboxylic acids in Atmospheric Aerosols and Vehicular Emissions. Anal. Methods, 2: 129-134.

Luo, Y., E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska, V. Celo, D. Muir and L. Yang. 2010. Accurate and Precise Determination of Silver Isotope Ratios in Environmental Samples by MC-ICP-MS. Anal Chem. 82(9): 3911-3928.

Yassine, M. M., E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska and P. Schmitt-Kopplin. 2009. Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry – a useful tool for the identification of water-soluble polar organics in air and vehicular emitted particulate matter. Electrophoresis, 30: 1756-1765.

Jeong, Ch-H., G.J. Evans, T. Dann, M. Graham, D. Herod, E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska, D. Mathieu, L. Ding and D. Wang. 2008. Influence of Biomass Burning on Wintertime Fine Particulate Matter: Source Contribution at a Valley Site in Rural British Columbia. Atmos. Environ. 42: 3684-3699.

Dabek-Zlotorzynska, E. and M. Piechowski. 2007. Application of Capillary Electrophoresis with Novel Dynamic Coatings and Field-Amplified Sample Injection to the Sensitive Determination of Isomeric Benzoic Acids in Atmospheric Aerosols and Vehicular Emission. Electrophoresis. 28:3526-3554.

Dabek-Zlotorzynska, E., R. Aranda-Rodriguez and L. Graham. 2005. Capillary Electrophoresis Determinative and GC-MS Confirmatory Method for Water-Soluble Organic Acids in Airborne Particulate Matter and Vehicle Emission. J. Sep. Sci. 28: 1520-1528.

Lee P. K., J.R. Brook, E. Dabek-Zlotorzynska et al. 2003. Identification of the Major Sources Contributing to PM2.5 Observed in Toronto. Envir. Sci. Technol. 37:4831-4840.