Particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in an urban, industrial and rural area in the western Mediterranean

Abstract

Particle-bound PAHs were measured at three sites in southeastern Spain (an urban background location, a suburban-industrial site in the vicinity of two cement plants and a rural area) in order to investigate the influence of the type of location on PAH concentrations. A clear influence of cement production on particulate PAH levels could not be established since for the urban background and suburban-industrial sites the average concentrations of total PAHs in the PM2.5 fraction were very similar (1.085 and 1.151 ng m(-3), respectively), with benzo[b+k]fluoranthene and chrysene as the predominant compounds. Diagnostic ratios, used to identify PAH emission sources, pointed to traffic as the main source of particulate PAH at both locations. As expected, PAH levels at the rural site were significantly lower (0.408 ng m(-3) in the PM10 fraction) due to increasing distance from the emission sources. PAH seasonal variations at the urban background and suburban-industrial sites were the same as reported in many previous studies. Average winter to summer ratios for total PAHs were 4.4 and 4.9 for the urban background and industrial sites, in that order. This seasonal cycle could be partially explained by the higher temperature and solar radiation during summer enhancing PAH evaporation from the particulate phase and PAH photochemical degradation, respectively. The study of PAH distribution between the fine and coarse fraction at the urban site revealed that on average around 80% of total PAHs were associated with fine particles.

Apportionment of the airborne PM10 in Spain. Episodes of potential negative impact for human health

“…Nevertheless, PM10 concentrations higher than the ones reported in this study were obtained in an urban station located in Elche, Spain 26…”

Dietary benzo(a)pyrene and fetal growth: Effect modification by vitamin C intake and glutathione S-transferase P1 polymorphism

“…B(a)P is absorbed onto fine particles and studies have found moderate to high correlations between atmospheric concentrations of fine particles, B(a)P and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) (Hazenkamp-von Arx et al 2004; Tham et al 2008; Wilhelm et al 2011) since most of these pollutants, including B(a)P and NO 2 , come from the traffic (Lodovici et al 2003; Varea et al 2011; Wilhelm et al 2011). As exposure to NO 2 during pregnancy has been related to reproductive outcomes (Ballester et al 2010), in this study we assessed possible confounding using residential outdoor NO 2 as a proxy indicator.…”

Assessing the Wet Deposition Mechanism of Benzo(a)pyrene in the Atmosphere by MF-DCCA

“…In the atmosphere, the chemical and physical properties of BaP, namely, its low solubility in water and low vapor pressure, make it almost always found in the particle phase associated with particulate matter [10][11][12][13][14][15]. It is widely accepted that particulate matter tends to be deposited, especially, from the atmosphere due to the clearance of precipitation [16].…”