Seasonal and spatial occurrence and distribution of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in rural and urban areas of the North Chinese Plain.
Passive air sampling (PAS) was employed to study the occurrence of gaseous and particle-bound PAHs in the North Chinese Plain. The averaged concentrations of gaseous and particle-bound PAHs were 485+/-209 ng/m(3) and 267+/-161 ng/m(3), respectively. The PAHs concentrations at urban sites were generally higher than those at rural ones with ratios <1.5 in spring, summer and fall, but differences between them were not significant for the wintertime and annually averaged concentrations. This urban-rural distribution pattern was related to the PAHs emission sources. PAHs spatial variation can be partially (49%) explained by emission with a simple linear regression method. Both the gaseous and particle-bound PAHs were highest in winter and lowest in summer, with winter/summer ratios of 1.8 and 8, respectively. Emission strength was the most important factor for the seasonality.
Liu
Shuzhen
S
Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Tao
Shu
S
Liu
Wenxin
W
Dou
Han
H
Liu
Yanan
Y
Zhao
Jingyu
J
Little
Mark Gabriel
MG
Tian
Zaifeng
Z
Wang
Jingfei
J
Wang
Luguang
L
Gao
Yuan
Y
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D052638:Particulate Matter; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D012621:Seasons
D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons