Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the air of Chinese cities

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in the air of 37 cities and 3 rural locations across China during the winter, spring, summer and autumn of 2005, using polyurethane foam (PUF) disks as passive air samplers (PAS). Winter and autumn concentrations in cities exceeded spring and summer values. Concentrations were amongst the highest in the world; seasonally averaged autumn/winter values in some cities in the north and north-west of China exceeded proposed European Union air quality standards. Several factors, acting in combination, influenced air concentrations. A significant negative correlation was found between average annual city concentrations and the annual average temperature, while winter time PAH concentrations correlated with estimated coal consumption. The highest total PAH concentrations and loadings of high molecular weight compounds generally occurred in major cities located on higher land (500-2000 m), where relatively cold winters and higher coal consumption occurs. Lower values occurred in cities located in the south and east China and along the coastal regions. Molecular markers indicated incomplete combustion of fossil fuels dominated the urban air and gave evidence for photo-decomposition of selected compounds.

A comparison study of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in three Indian cities using PUF disk passive air samplers

“…The concentrations in Indian air were dominated by the 3e4-ring PAHs, following the order Phe (w32%) > Pyr (w15%) > Chr (w12%)> Flur (w11%)>Flu (w10%), while the proportions of the other PAHs were <7%. Compared with the congener profiles in cities (Liu et al, 2007;Bohlin et al, 2008) and background sites (Halse et al, 2011), the Indian air was characterized by a relatively high proportion of HMW PAHs. An enrichment of HMW PAHs in the air was also recorded at a rural site in Chennai (Masih et al, 2012).…”

“…1). The concentration levels were higher than the PAS observed in Europe (Jaward et al, 2004) and other urban areas (Bohlin et al, 2008;Gouin et al, 2010) and comparable to some source regions in China (Liu et al, 2007). Chakraborty et al (2010) used 7e10 days of AAS to represent the PAS of the 28-day deployment period.…”

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in continental shelf sediment of China: Implications for anthropogenic influences on coastal marine environment

“…6). Instead, the low efficiency with domestic coal combustion (Liu et al, 2007c) and the greater consumption of domestic coal in North China compared to South China (e.g. 6.2 and 0.69 million tons in Shandong (Statisticcal Bureau of Shandong Province, 2009) and Guangdong (Statistical Bureau of Guangdong Province, 2010), respectively) were probably responsible for the spatial distribution of anthropogenic PAH in continental shelf sediments off China (Fig.…”

Atmospheric deposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to a coastal site of Hong Kong, South China

“…In order to calculate the contribution of atmospheric deposition of PAHs into the coastal sediments, an adjacent site was chosen to collect air and depositional samples. The sampling site, Hok Tsui (22.24 E,114.24 N) is situated at the southeastern tip of Hong Kong Island, and has been represented a regional background site with a small influence from the local pollutant sources (Liu et al, 2007;Zheng and Fang, 2000). Thus, Hok Tsui is a suitable site to quantify the contribution of depositional fluxes of PAHs to the coastal environments in south China.…”