Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons in the Snow Cover of the Northern City Agglomeration 

Abstract

The 13 priority PAHs were qualitatively and quantitatively assessed in snow samples collected at 46 the crossroads of a large city in northern Europe - Arkhangelsk. The HPLC analysis revealed that the range of Σ13PAH concentrations detected in snow. The average, maximum and minimum values were respectively 167.7; 664.5 and 16.0 ng / kg snow. The average toxic equivalent quantity varied is 3.6 ng / kg, which is three times less than the established maximum permissible concentration. The sources of pollution origin were assessed using PAHs markers. The urban agglomeration of Arkhangelsk is not contaminated with anthropogenic PAHs. The markers identified pyrogenic sources of emission. Regression analysis was carried out to find correlations between the presence of benzo(a)pyrene and other PAHs in snow samples. We found that benzo(a)pyrene has a very high correlation with high molecular weight PAHs and has no correlation with low molecular weight PAHs. The quality of the snow polluted is satisfactory.