Abstract
Abstract. Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are contaminants of emerging concern, and studies have concluded that urban areas are a significant source of OPEs. Samples were collected from six ground-based sites located in Chengdu, a typical rapidly developing metropolitan area in Southwest China, and were analyzed for seven OPEs in atmospheric PM2.5 (Σ7 OPEs). The concentrations of Σ7 OPEs in PM2.5 ranged from 5.83 to 6.91 ng m−3, with a mean of 6.6 ± 3.3 ng m−3, and the primary pollutants were tris-(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBEP), tri-n-butyl phosphate (TnBP), tris-(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and tris-(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCPP), which together made up more than 80 % of the Σ7 OPEs. The concentrations of Σ7 OPEs were higher in autumn and winter than in summer. Nonparametric tests showed that there was no significant difference in Σ7 OPE concentrations among the six sampling sites, but the occurrence of unexpectedly high levels of individual OPEs at different sites in autumn might indicate noteworthy emissions. A very strong correlation (R2 = 0.98, p < 0.01) between the OPEs in soil and in PM2.5 was observed. Backward trajectory analysis indicated that the OPEs in PM2.5 were mainly affected by local sources. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the OPEs in PM2.5 were largely sourced from the plastics industry, interior decoration and traffic emission (34.5 %) and the chemical, mechanical and electrical industries (27.8 %), while the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model revealed that the main sources were the plastics industry and indoor source emissions, the food and cosmetics industry and industrial emissions. In contrast to coastal cities, sustained and stable high local emissions in the studied inland city were identified, which is particularly noteworthy. Chlorinated phosphates, especially TCPP and TCEP, had a high content, and their usage and source emissions should be controlled.
Highlights
With the prohibition of brominated flame retardants, the production of and demand for organophosphate esters (OPEs) have rapidly increased in recent years (Wang et al, 2013)
In this study, alkyl Organophosphate esters (OPEs) dominated at both urban and suburban sites. This finding was extremely different from the results reported by Wu et al (2020), in which alkyl OPEs dominated at urban sites, chlorinated OPEs were prevalent at rural sites and aryl OPEs were most abundant at remote locations
The most notable seasonal variation was observed for alkyl phosphates, followed by halogenated OPEs and aryl OPEs
Summary
With the prohibition of brominated flame retardants, the production of and demand for organophosphate esters (OPEs) have rapidly increased in recent years (Wang et al, 2013). OPEs are widely distributed in the environment and have been detected in air (Guo et al, 2016; Li et al, 2017), water (Wang et al, 2013; Li et al, 2014), soil (Yin et al, 2016), sediment (Cristale et al, 2013; Celano, et al, 2014) and organisms (Kim et al, 2011). Many studies on OPEs in oceans have been carried out, and the concentrations of particle-bound OPEs range from tens to thousands of nanograms per cubic meter (ng m−3) (Möller et al, 2011, 2012; Cristale and Lacorte, 2013; Li et al, 2017; McDonough et al, 2018).
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