Occurrence, source, and risk assessment of atmospheric parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the coastal cities of the Bohai and Yellow Seas, China. (November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, WeiJian; Xu, YunSong; Zhao, YongZhi; Liu, QingYang; Yu, ShuangYu; Liu, Yang; Wang, Xin; Liu, Yu; Tao, Shu; Liu, WenXin
• Is Part Of: Environmental pollution. Volume 254(2019)Part B
• Publication Date: 2019-11
• Subjects: Air PPAHs -- Spatiotemporal variations -- Source apportionment -- ILCR -- Littoral areas of the Bohai and Yellow Seas; Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Environmental Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Périodiques; Pollution -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; Pollution -- Effets physiologiques -- Périodiques; Pollution; Pollution -- Environmental aspects; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 363.73
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113046
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-7491

Abstract

Abstract: Parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PPAHs) in the ambient air of the coastal cities near the Bohai and Yellow Seas were measured over a full year. The range and geometric average of total PPAH29 (29 species) were 5.16-1.22 × 10 3 and 118 ng/m 3, respectively, with 77 ± 14% in a gaseous phase. The 16 priority components accounted for 90 ± 4% of the total mass concentration. The incremental life cancer risk (ILCR) via inhalation exposure to the PPAHs (3.17 × 10 −4 ) was underestimated by 80%, as only the priority PPAHs were considered. The air concentrations of PPAHs in the Bohai Sea area were generally higher ( p < 0.01) than those in the Yellow Sea area. A significant increase ( p < 0.01) in the levels of PPAHs and large fractions of high molecular weight (HMW) components were observed in winter. Absorption by particulate organic carbon dominated in gas-particle partitioning of the PPAHs, and the seasonal variations in gas-particle partitioning of the low and moderate molecular weight compounds were more noticeable relative to the HMW species. In summer, significantly higher concentrations of PPAHs were found in the daytime than during nighttime, while the opposite case occurred in winter ( p < 0.05). The positive matrix factorization (PMF) results indicated greater contributions of coal and biomass combustion to the PPAH emissions in the coastal cities of the Bohai Sea area compared with the Yellow Sea area. The burning of coal and biomass served as the main source of PPAHs in winter, while traffic exhaust was the dominant source in other seasons. The potential source contribution function ( PSCF ) revealed the important impacts of the external inputs on the local PPAHs via air mass transport. The contributions of the resolved emission sources to the ILCR were clearly different from those of the mass concentrations, indicating the necessity for source-oriented risk assessments. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Absorption by particulate organic carbon dominated gas-particle partitioning. Increases in PPAHs concentrations and fractions of HMW species occurred in winter. Solid fuel combustion and traffic exhaust were the main sources in different seasons. The levels of PPAHs were higher during daytime in summer and during nighttime in winter. Source contributions to ILCR differed from those to mass concentration. Abstract : High concentrations of PPAHs and large fractions of HMW species occurred in winter due to coal and biomass combustion and traffic exhaust, while emissions by gasoline-powered vehicles dominated the contribution to ILCR rather than to mass concentration.