Analysis of PAHs Associated with PM10 and PM2.5 from Different Districts in Nanjing

Xiansheng Liu,Ralf Zimmermann,Brigitte Schloter-Hai,Lili Ma,Thomas Adam,Jürgen Schnelle-Kreis,Pengfei Tai,Cencen Yu,Xin Cao

doi:10.4209/aaqr.2019.06.0301

Abstract

ABSTRACT Nanjing has areas with different degrees of pollution and is therefore predestined for the analysis of particle phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (P-PAHs) in different functional areas and their correlation with the latter. The functional sites include a background area (BGA), an industrial area (IDA), a traffic area (TFA), a business area (BNA) and a residential area (RDA), where parameters such as PAH composition, content, carcinogenic and mutagenic potencies were analyzed. The results revealed increasing P-PAH contents (PM2.5, PM10) in the following order: BGA (14.02 ng m–3, 38.45 ng m–3) < BNA (16.33 ng m–3, 44.13 ng m–3) < TFA (17.13 ng m–3, 48.31 ng m–3) < RDA (21.11 ng m–3, 61.03 ng m–3) < IDA (50.00 ng m–3, 93.08 ng m–3). Thereby, the P-PAH content in the industrial area was significantly higher than in the other functional zones (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the gas phase PAH concentrations were also estimated by the G/P partitioning model and the total PAH toxicity was assessed applying toxicity equivalent factors (∑BaPTEF) and mutagenicity equivalent factors (∑BaPMEF). Finally, the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) value of children and adolescents in Nanjing was higher than that of adults.

Highlights

It is well-known, that the primary particles are emitted directly as liquids or solids from sources such as biomass burning, incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, volcanic eruptions, and wind-driven or traffic-related suspension of road, soil, and mineral dust, sea salt, and biological materials (Abdel-Shafy et al, 2016; Du et al, 2017)
The results revealed increasing phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (P-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)) contents (PM2.5, PM10) in the following order: background area (BGA) (14.02 ng m–3, 38.45 ng m–3) < business area (BNA) (16.33 ng m–3, 44.13 ng m–3) < traffic area (TFA) (17.13 ng m–3, 48.31 ng m–3) < residential area (RDA) (21.11 ng m–3, 61.03 ng m–3) < industrial area (IDA) (50.00 ng m–3, 93.08 ng m–3)
Concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were in the ranges of 10.95–59.10 ng m–3 and 35.38–97.33 ng m–3, respectively

Summary

Introduction

It is well-known, that the primary particles are emitted directly as liquids or solids from sources such as biomass burning, incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, volcanic eruptions, and wind-driven or traffic-related suspension of road, soil, and mineral dust, sea salt, and biological materials (Abdel-Shafy et al, 2016; Du et al, 2017). Ambient particulate matter (PM) is a growing concern worldwide due to its associations between elevated concentrations and increased incidences of cardiopulmonary disease (Ning et al, 2010), including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Zhang et al, 2017). According to the Global Burden of Disease study, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is the seventh largest important death risk factor in the world and the fourth largest important death risk factor in China (Cohen et al, 2005; Lim et al., 2012). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have brought great environmental concerns as they are ubiquitous in the ambient air and the presence of PAH directly affects humans, especially to vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children (Brook et al, 2010; Beelen et al, 2014; Wang et al, 2017a; Wright et al, 2018). It is important to investigate the PAHs in the atmosphere and reduce human exposure to these toxic chemicals

Methods

Results

Conclusion