Speciation of Volatile Aromatic and Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in an Urban Atmosphere Using TCT-GC/MS

Abstract

Several aromatic and chlorinated volatile hydrocarbons (VOCs) were measured in Vitoria-Gasteiz City (Spain) throughout the years 1999 and 2002 in order to find out the concentration of these pollutants in urban air. These VOCs were retained in Tenax TA, subsequently desorpted by using a thermal desorption cold trap injector (TCT), and thereafter analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). This analytical methodology permits the determination of 42 VOCs at very low concentrations, although only 32 of them were found in the urban air of the city (ranging from 205.51 to 0.01 microg m(-3)), with high reproducibility (%RSD lower than 10%). Twenty-four-hour samples were taken each sampling day to ascertain their total daily concentration, and rigorous quality controls were carried out to check the representativeness of sampling. Results of this exhaustive study show that toluene (T), xylenes (X), ethylbenzene (E), and benzene (B) were, respectively, the most abundant of these VOCs in the urban area during that period. The total concentration of BTEX represented, on average, more than 72.6% of the VOC total concentration, with the highest concentrations being reached in autumn, except for benzene and derived compounds (in winter). Benzene was the minority BTEX pollutant, its yearly mean concentration being less than the maximum established by the European Directive 2000/69/CE (5 microg m(-3)).

Baseline levels of bioaerosols and volatile organic compounds around a municipal waste incinerator prior to the construction of a mechanical-biological treatment plant

“…Because of the number of chemicals considered greatly depends on the criterion of each investigator, the comparison between different areas is rather difficult. However, BTEX are the most analyzed compounds in most studies, being also the most abundant VOCs in urban air (Baroja et al, 2005;Ras-Mallorquí et al, 2007) In Spain, Baldasano et al (1998) For each parameter, different superscripts (a,b,c) indicate significant differences at p < 0.05.…”

Volatile organic compounds in air at urban and industrial areas in the Tarragona region by thermal desorption and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

“…Oil refining is associated with emitting volatile organic compounds, mainly hydrocarbons, into the atmosphere, originated from the production processes, storage tanks, transport pipelines, and waste area (Kalabokas et al 2001;Cetin et al 2003;Rao et al 2007). VOC levels around the chemical and petrochemical industry (Kalabokas et al 2001;Cetin et al 2003;Navazo et al 2003;Lin et al 2004;Zhao et al 2004;Gariazzo et al 2005;Srivastava et al 2005;Hung-Lung et al 2007;Ras-Mallorquí et al 2007) and in urban atmospheres (Bomboí et al 2002;Navazo et al 2003;Fernández et al 2004Fernández et al , 2005Zhao et al 2004; Baroja et al 2005;Papadopoulos et al 2005;Srivastava et al 2005;Han and Naeher 2006;Geng et al 2007;Guo et al 2007;Hung-Lung et al 2007;Martins et al 2007;Molina et al 2007;Ras-Mallorquí et al 2007;Sather and Cavender 2007;Smith et al 2007) have been studied. The main source of VOCs in urban areas is road traffic and other combustion processes, and fuel evaporation.…”

“…They can also affect the nervous, immune, and reproductive systems. Classic neurological symptoms associated with VOCs are feelings of fatigue, headaches, dizziness, nausea, lethargy, and depression (ATSDR 1995;Weschler and Shields 1997;Rumchev et al 2004; Baroja et al 2005;Ulman and Chilmonczyk 2007). Moreover, benzene and tetrachloroethene have been identified as powerful carcinogenic agents by the World Health Organization (WHO) (Srivastava et al 2005).…”

Atmospheric BTEX concentrations in the vicinity of the crude oil refinery of the Baltic region

“…Short-term exposure to particular concentrations of some VOCs present in the air is not considered acutely harmful to human health, however, long-term exposure may result in mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. Classic neurological symptoms associated with VOCs are fatigue, headaches, dizziness, nausea, lethargy and depression (ATSDR 1995;Weschler and Shields 1997;Rumchev et al 2004; Baroja et al 2005;Ulman and Chilmonczyk 2007). Moreover, benzene and tetrachloroethene have been identified as powerful carcinogenic agents by the World Health Organization (WHO) (Srivastava et al 2005).…”