title: Occurrence and particle-size distributions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the ambient air of coking plant.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to characterize the occurrence and size distributions of ten species of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the ambient air of coking plants. Particulate-matter samples of four size fractions, including ≤2.1, 2.1-4.2, 4.2-10.2, and ≥10.2 μm, were collected using a Staplex234 cascade impactor during August 2009 at two coking plants in Shanxi, China. The PAHs were analyzed by a gas chromatograph equipped with a mass-selective detector. The concentrations of total particulate-matter PAHs were 1,412.7 and 2,241.1 ng/m(3) for plants I and II, and the distributions showed a peak within the 0.1-2.1 μm size range for plant I and the 0.1-4.2 μm for plant II. The size distributions of individual PAHs (except fluoranthene) exhibited a considerable peak within the 0.1-2.1 μm size range in coking plant I, which can be explained by the gas-particle partition mechanism. The ambient air of the coking plant was heavily polluted by PAHs associated with fine particles (≤2.1 μm), and benzo[b]fluoranthene made the largest contribution to total PAHs. The exposure levels of coking-plant workers to PAHs associated with fine particles were higher than to PAHs associated with coarse particles. Benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, and dibenzo[a,h]anthracene should be the primary pollutants monitored in the coking plant. This research constitutes a significant contribution to assessing the exposure risk of coking-plant workers and providing basic data for PAH standards for ambient air in coking plants.
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, Shanxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Huiling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Chongfang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D003077:Coke; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003077:Coke; D052638:Particulate Matter; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons