Source identification of total petroleum hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in PM10 and street dust of a hot spot for petrochemical production: Asaluyeh County, Iran. (February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Abbasi, Sajjad; Keshavarzi, Behnam
• Is Part Of: Sustainable cities and society. Volume 45(2019)
• Page Start: 214
• Page End: 230
• Publication Date: 2019-02
• Subjects: Dust -- PAHs -- TPH -- GEE -- Logistic regression -- PMF -- PCA-MLR -- Asaluyeh; Sustainable urban development -- Periodicals; Sustainable buildings -- Periodicals; Urban ecology (Sociology) -- Periodicals; 307.76
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2018.11.015
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2210-6707

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: GEE, backward GEE, logistic regression, PMF and PCA-MLR methods were used as robust statistical methods in this study. Asaluyeh dust particles are potentially influenced by three sources of PAHs including, (i) pyrogenic, (ii) petrogenic, and (iii) geogenic sources. PAHs generally originate from pyrogenic sources and about 0.08% of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) were accounted for by PAHs.Also, decreasing trend of LMW PAHs concentrations is: air dust > winter street dust > summer street dust. This clearly shows that two major factors affecting LMWPAHs concentration include (i) temperature (ii) volatility Petrogenic PAHs in industrial areas were 11.2 times higher than urban areas. Backward GEE model demonstrated that the concentration of TPH is more influenced by high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs, particularly indene. Abstract: Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are important pollutants that affect public health in urban areas, especially in developing and oil-rich countries such as Iran. This assesses the relationship between TPH and PAHs in street dust and suspended dust, and investigates toxicity level in the urban environment of the most important petrochemical center in Iran. For this purpose, 21 and 48 street dust samples were collected for TPH analysis and PAH analysis, respectively, in Asaluyeh County. Moreover, seven air dust samples were taken for PAH analysis. TPH concentrations ranged between 240 and 4400 mg kg −1, with a mean of 1371.43 mg kg −1 . The maximum ∑PAH concentration (6016.3 mg kg −1 ) was detected in a petrochemical complex while the minimum ∑PAHs content (16.93 mg kg −1 ) was measured in an urban area. The mean concentrations of total PAHs in street dust particles were 491.35 mg kg −1 in summer and 304.04 mg kg −1 in winter. The results indicated that PAH concentration in summer was higher. PAH sources were identified using both PAHs ratios and robust statistical methods such as Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE), backward GEE, logistic regression, principal components analysis (PCA) in conjunction with multiple linear regression (MLR) and positive matrix factorization (PMF). The results showed that PAH species generally originate from pyrogenic sources and about 0.08% of TPH was typically PAHs. However, petrogenic sources of PAHs in the industrial areas were 11.2 times more abundant than in urban areas. Also, backward GEE model demonstrated that TPH is more influenced by HMW PAHs, particularly indene. Estimated incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) was higher than 10 -4, showing that Asaluyeh inhabitants (especially children and indoor workers) are probably exposed to cancer risk, particularly through dermal contact and dust ingestion.