title: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their derivatives (nitro-PAHs, oxygenated PAHs, and azaarenes) in PM2.5from Southern European cities.
abstract: Atmospheric particulate matter (PM2.5) samples were collected over two one month periods during winter and summer in three Southern European cities (Oporto - traffic site, Florence - urban background, Athens - suburban). Concentrations of 27 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 15 nitro-PAHs (NPAHs), 15 oxygenated-PAHs (OPAHs) and 4 azaarenes (AZAs) were determined. On average, the winter-summer concentrations of ΣPAHs were 16.3-5.60, 7.75-3.02 and 3.44-0.658ngm-3in Oporto, Florence and Athens, respectively. The corresponding concentrations of ΣNPAHs were 15.8-9.15, 10.9-3.36 and 15.9-2.73ngm-3, whilst ΣOPAHs varied in the ranges 41.8-19.0, 11.3-3.10 and 12.6-0.704ngm-3. Concentrations of ΣAZAs were always below 0.5ngm-3. Irrespective of the city, the dominant PAHs were benzo[b+j+k]fluoranthene, retene, benzo[ghi]perylene and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene. The most abundant OPAH in all cities was 1,8-naphthalic anhydride, whereas 5-nitroacenaphthene was the prevailing NPAH. The ΣOPAHs/ΣPAHs and ΣNPAHs/ΣPAHs were higher in summer than in winter, suggesting increasing formation of derivatives by photochemical degradation of PAHs. Molecular diagnostic ratios suggested that, after traffic, biomass burning was the dominant emission source. Apart from being influenced by seasonal sources, the marked differences between winter and summer may indicate that these diagnostic ratios are particularly sensitive to photodegradation, and thus should be applied and interpreted cautiously. The lifetime excess cancer risk from inhalation was, in part, attributable to PAH derivatives, acclaiming the need to include these compounds in regular monitoring programmes. On average, 206, 88 and 26 cancer cases per million people were estimated, by the World Health Organisation method, for the traffic-impacted, urban background and suburban atmospheres of Oporto, Florence and Athens, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Environment, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. Electronic address: celia.alves@ua.pt.
authors.forename: Célia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Environment, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Vicente
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Environment, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Danilo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Custódio
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Environment, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mário
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cerqueira
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Environment, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Environment, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Casimiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pio
authors.affiliation: Dep. of Physics and Astronomy, Università di Firenze and INFN-Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino 50019, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lucarelli
authors.affiliation: Dep. of Physics and Astronomy, Università di Firenze and INFN-Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino 50019, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calzolai
authors.affiliation: Dep. of Physics and Astronomy, Università di Firenze and INFN-Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino 50019, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nava
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Scientific Research (NCSR) "Demokritos", 15341 Ag. Paraskevi, Attiki, Greece.
authors.forename: Evangelia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Diapouli
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Scientific Research (NCSR) "Demokritos", 15341 Ag. Paraskevi, Attiki, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eleftheriadis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, Spanish Research Council, C/Jordi Girona, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Querol
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Reinhard-Baumeister-Platz 1, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany; Organic Geochemistry Unit (OGU), School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK; Institute of Geography & Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Benjamin A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Musa Bandowe
keywords: Cancer risk; Nitro-PAHs; Oxygenated-PAHs; PAHs; PM(2.5)