Profiles, sources and potential exposures of parent, chlorinated and brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in haze associated atmosphere

Abstract

Several congeners of Cl, Br-PAHs in haze air were reported for the first time.• Cl, Br-PAH levels in heating period were higher than that in non-heating period. • Coal combustion contributes to the elevated levels of Cl, Br-PAHs in heating period.Editor: Jay Gan Profiles, sources and potential exposures of chlorinated and brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ClPAHs and BrPAHs) in haze associated atmosphere remain unclear. Haze events happened frequently during heating period in Beijing provided a typical urban context to investigate the concentrations, profiles, sources and potential exposures of ClPAHs, BrPAHs and their non-halogenated parent compounds (PAHs) in air samples. Average concentrations of PAHs, ClPAHs and BrPAHs during heating periods (with more frequent haze events) were about 3-9 times higher than during non-heating periods. Concentrations of particulate matter (PM)-associated ClPAHs and BrPAHs were higher in heating period than in non-heating period, while for gas-associated ClPAHs and BrPAHs, this distinction was not significant. Congener patterns and congener profiles indicated that with increasing coal combustion during the heating period, concentrations of PAHs and ClPAHs in air were elevated in comparison to the non-heating period. Inhalation of PM-associated PAHs, ClPAHs and BrPAHs accounted for higher exposure than inhalation of gas phase and dermal contact of both gas phase and particulate phase. In this study we found that the particulate phase is the dominant exposure pathway of atmospheric PAHs, ClPAHs and BrPAHs during haze days, which is different from previous studies.

Atmospheric deposition of chlorinated and brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in central Europe analyzed by GC-MS/MS

“…No other consistent seasonal signal of congeners was observed. This is quite different from previous studies of XPAH in aerosol particles, which found that the percentage of 6-ClBaP increased significantly in winter (Jin et al 2017a;Ohura et al 2008;Ohura et al 2016). Meteorological conditions and emission sources might have influenced these patterns in deposition.…”

“…BrPAHs in air samples (Jin et al 2017a;Jin et al 2017c). One possible reason could be that the type and number of BrPAH congeners analyzed in this study are not the same as previous studies.…”

“…The related environmental risks might be comparable to those of PCDD/Fs (Ohura et al 2007 ; Jin et al 2020b ). Previous studies have identified XPAHs in many environmental matrices, such as air (Jin et al 2017a ; Jin et al 2017c ) and soil (Ieda et al 2011 , Jin et al 2020a ), suggesting that XPAHs are ubiquitous in the environment (Sun et al 2013 ; Jin et al 2020b ). Vapor pressures of mono- and di-XPAHs are at the range of 10 −7 to 10 −2 Pa, indicating that the XPAHs are semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), potentially undergoing long-range atmospheric transport (Goldfarb and Suuberg 2008 ; Fu and Suuberg 2012 ; Jin et al 2020a ).…”

“…However, the knowledge of XPAHs’ environmental occurrence and fate characteristics are still very limited. Atmospheric XPAHs so far had mainly been studied in East Asian countries, i.e., China and Japan (Ohura et al 2005 ; Ohura et al 2013 ; Jin et al 2017a ). Their occurrence in other regions, such as central Europe, where their emission sources might be related to different industries and consumption patterns still remain unknown.…”

Quantification of Brominated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Environmental Samples by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry with Atmospheric Pressure Photoionization and Post-column Infusion of Dopant

“…[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Ohura et al 13 reported that the total concentration (sum of individual concentrations) of 11 BrPAHs and 20 ClPAHs in surface sediment collected from the Yellow Sea was in the range of 5.5 -250 and 290 -1200 ng g -1 , respectively. Jin et al 14 reported that the total concentration of 19 BrPAHs and 19 ClPAHs in haze in China was 24 and 260 pg m -3 , respectively. The total toxic equivalency concentration, calculated based on the toxicity relative to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), of 20 ClPAHs (36 -1210 pg g -1 ) was higher than that of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (0.039 -29 ng g -1 ) and dibenzofurans (0.034 -5.5 ng g -1 ) in sediment cores collected from Tokyo Bay, Japan.…”