Concentrations and chiral signatures of polychlorinated biphenyls in outdoor and indoor air and soil in a major U.K. conurbation.
Concentrations and chiral signatures of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured in outdoor air (using polyurethane foam (PUF)--disk passive samplers) and surface soil samples taken at approximately monthly intervals over 1 year at 10 locations on a rural-urban transect across the West Midlands of the U.K. In both air and soil, concentrations clearly decrease with increasing distance from the city center, supporting the existence of an urban "pulse", that indicate the West Midlands conurbation to be a source of PCBs to the wider environment. Concentrations of PCBs in outdoor air samples in this study are well below those reported previously for indoor air in the West Midlands. This, combined with comparison of chiral signatures in outdoor air and soil with those in samples of indoor air taken in the West Midlands, suggest strongly that the principal contemporary source of PCBs in this conurbation is ventilation of indoor air and not volatilization from soil. Future reductions in PCB concentrations in outdoor air and ultimately human exposure appear best achieved by action to remove remaining sources of PCBs from existing structures.
Jamshidi
Arsalan
A
Division of Environmental Health and Risk Management, Public Health Building, School of Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom.
Hunter
Stuart
S
Hazrati
Sadegh
S
Harrad
Stuart
S
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005843:Geography; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D011140:Polyurethanes; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006113:United Kingdom
D000393:Air Pollutants; D011140:Polyurethanes; D012989:Soil Pollutants; C028279:polyurethane foam; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls