Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the atmosphere: monitoring, sources, sinks and fate. I: Monitoring and sources.
This is the first of a series of two papers intended to review the state-of-the-art knowledge on atmospheric PAHs, concerning their monitoring, sources and transformation processes in the atmosphere. The monitoring section briefly introduces this class of compounds, mainly focusing on the 16 PAHs indicated by the US-EPA as priority pollutants. These compounds undergo partitioning between the gas phase and particulate, which has to be considered in the choice of the sampling methodology. Furthermore, sampling artifacts may arise from further phase transfers inside the sampling device. After sampling, extraction, clean up and detection/quantification procedures will follow. They are closely related since the choice of the extraction technique will heavily condition the clean-up step, and both procedures will place demands on the performance of the detection technique (usually GC-MS or HPLC). This is particularly true in the case of complex samples such as those arising from atmospheric sampling. The sources of atmospheric PAHs are then discussed with a particular focus on receptor models, which can allow the apportionment of PAH sources based on concentration data that can be routinely obtained by pollution control networks.
Pozzoli
Luca
L
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), EPFL-ENAC-LMCA, Batiment Chimie, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Gilardoni
Stefania
S
Perrone
Maria Grazia
MG
De Gennaro
Gianluigi
G
De Rienzo
Massimo
M
Vione
Davide
D
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*
D000393:Air Pollutants; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons