Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with total suspended particles and surface soils in Kunming, China: distribution, possible sources, and cancer risks

Abstract

The concentrations, distribution, possible sources, and cancer risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in total suspended particles (TSPs) and surface soils collected from the same sampling spots were compared in Kunming, China. The total PAH concentrations were 9.35-75.01 ng/m(3) and 101.64-693.30 ng/g dry weight (d.w.), respectively, in TSPs and surface soils. Fluoranthene (FLA), pyrene (PYR), chrysene (CHR), and phenanthrene (PHE) were the abundant compounds in TSP samples, and phenanthrene (PHE), fluorene (FLO), fluoranthene (FLA), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF), and benzo[g,h,i]perylene (BghiP) were the abundant compounds in surface soil samples. The spatial distribution of PAHs in TSPs is closely related to the surrounding environment, which varied significantly as a result of variations in source emission and changes in meteorology. However, the spatial distribution of PAHs in surface soils is supposed to correlate with a city's urbanization history, and high levels of PAHs were always observed in industry district, or central or old district of city. Based on the diagnostic ratios and principal component analysis (PCA), vehicle emissions (especially diesel-powered vehicles) and coal and wood combustion were the main sources of PAHs in TSPs, and the combustion of wood and coal, and spills of unburnt petroleum were the main sources of PAHs in the surface soils. The benzo[a]pyrene equivalent concentration (BaPeq) for the TSPs and surface soil samples were 0.16-2.57 ng/m(3) and 11.44-116.03 ng/g d.w., respectively. The incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) exposed to particulate PAHs ranged from 10(-4) to 10(-3) indicating high potential of carcinogenic risk, and the ILCR exposed to soil PAHs was from 10(-7) to 10(-6) indicating virtual safety. These presented results showed that particle-bound PAHs had higher potential carcinogenic ability for human than soil PAHs. And, the values of cancer risk for children were always higher than for adults, which demonstrated that children were sensitive to carcinogenic effects of PAHs.

Sources and cancer risks assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in particulate matter and surface soils in Kunming, China

“…Similarly, FLA (13.85%) was the most abundant compound in surface soil samples, followed by PYR (13.77%), PHE (12.85%), CHR (11.61%), ANT (8.87%) and BbF (7.86%). FLA, PYR, CHR, PHE and BbF were the abundant compounds both in PM and surface soil samples, which was similar with earlier paper on the profiles of PAHs in Kunming (Lin et al, 2013;Yang et al, 2015;Zhao et al, 2014). Obviously, the proportions of FLA absorbed in all measured samples were relatively higher than that of other compounds.…”

“…The daily samples collected at each site were extracted and processed separately, and they were extracted cumulatively and a single value was obtained for each site. Details of the analysis of PAHs have been described previously (Lin et al, 2013;Yang et al, 2015). Before analysis, the filters and surface soils were lyophilised for 72 h using an Eyela FDU-1200 freeze drier (Tokyo, Japan).…”

“…It is significance to notice the pollution characteristics of PAHs in this city. Earlier papers on the results of PAHs in Kunming were focused on TSP and surface soils, showed that PAHs were detected both in TSP and surface soils (Lin et al, 2013;Yang et al, 2015). However, there is a lack of data documenting PM 2.5 -bound PAHs in Kunming, which can better understand the fate of PAHs pollution and assess the potential human health risks.…”

The Effects of Height on the Accumulation of n-Alkanes and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Air-Conditioning Filter Dust from High-Rise Apartments

“…TEF values are 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.001, 0.001, 0.1, 0.01, 0.1, 0.1, 1, 0.1, 1, and 0.01 for Nap, Ace, Ac, Fl, Phe, Ant, Flu, Pyr, BaA, Chr, BbF, BkF, BaP, IcdP, DahA and BghiP, respectively (Yang et al, 2015).…”

The assessment of source attribution of soil pollution in a typical e-waste recycling town and its surrounding regions using the combined organic and inorganic dataset

“…PC_P1 included high loading of BaA, BbF, BkF, BaP, InP, DBA, and BP known as molecular markers of emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicles (Ho et al 2009; Sklorz et al . Moderate loading PAHs (Acy, Phe, Flu, and Pyr) in PC_P1 were generally considered as typical tracers for coal combustion (Sofowote et al 2008;Wang et al 2015c;Yang et al 2015). PC_P1 was identified as a mixed source of a high traffic influence and a low coal combustion influence.…”