title: Seasonal and spatial variations of air concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Northeastern Chinese urban region.
abstract: Polyurethane foam disk passive air samplers were deployed along an urban-rural-background transect in a northeastern Chinese region (Harbin) to investigate the spatial and seasonal variations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The ∑₁₆PAHs concentrations [ng/(sample·day)] were high at urban sites (315 ± 206), followed by rural sites (222 ± 160), suburban site (142 ± 114) and background site (128 ± 107). The urban fractionation effect was observed along the transect with increasing proportions for low molecular weight PAHs and decreasing proportions for high molecular weight PAHs. PAHs were found to be higher in winter and spring than in summer and autumn, most likely due to the combustion of coal and biomass for domestic heating. Sources of PAHs were investigated by principal component analysis in combination with diagnostic ratios, which both indicated that pyrogenic sources were the main sources of PAHs in the air of Harbin, China.
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150090 Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Wan-li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Yi-fan
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Li-yan
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: De-zhi
authors.initials: DZ
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: De-gao
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chong-guo
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Ji-min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons