Seasonal variation of particle size distributions of PAHs at Seoul, Korea

The atmospheric size distributions of particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) up to 10 μm in diameter were measured at Seoul in the summer and winter of 2003. The concentrations of total PAHs were from 4.32 to 5.48 ng m−3 in summer and from 25.6 to 35.9 ng m−3 in winter, respectively. Majority of the PAHs concentrations were found on fine particles (Dp < 2.1 μm). The size distributions of individual PAH compounds were bimodal with the peaks in the 0.43–0.65- and 4.7–5.8-μm range in summer. In winter, those were unimodal or weakly bimodal with the peaks in the 0.65–1.1- and 4.7–5.8-μm range. The seasonal variation of the peak size range in the fine mode might be caused by longer residence time in the air in winter. Based on the previously reported source diagnostic ratios of PAHs for the major emission sources, it was suggested that vehicles were the major source of PAH in summer, while coal-related emissions and firewood fire were the major sources in winter for fine particles. The seasonal variation of the peak size ranges in the fine particles had not shown noticeable effect on the dry deposition fluxes. However, it might affect the optical properties of the atmosphere.

[1]  Chandra Venkataraman,et al.  SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS GAS/ PARTICLE PARTITIONING TO URBAN AEROSOLS , 1999 .

[2]  Jiabin Zhou,et al.  Size distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban and suburban sites of Beijing, China. , 2005, Chemosphere.

[3]  P. Peng,et al.  Size distribution of n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban and rural atmospheres of Guangzhou, China , 2005 .

[4]  L. Vaeck,et al.  Cascade impactor measurements of the size distribution of the major classes of organic pollutants in atmospheric particulate matter , 1978 .

[5]  J. Seinfeld.  Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics of Air Pollution , 1986 .

[6]  S. Friedlander,et al.  Distribution of benzo[a]pyrene and coronene with respect to particle size in pasadena aerosols in the submicron range , 1978 .

[7]  B. Holben,et al.  Single-Scattering Albedo and Radiative Forcing of Various Aerosol Species with a Global Three-Dimensional Model , 2002 .

[8]  Unep Chemicals,et al.  Regionally based assessment of persistent toxic substances : Antarctica regional report , 2002 .

[9]  S. Yi,et al.  Dry deposition fluxes of ambient particulate heavy metals in a small city, Korea , 2002 .

[10]  U. Lohmann,et al.  Parameterizing the optical properties of carbonaceous aerosols in the Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis Atmospheric General Circulation Model with impacts on global radiation and energy fluxes , 2007 .

[11]  J. Offenberg,et al.  Aerosol size distributions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban and over-water atmospheres , 1999 .

[12]  P. Lioy,et al.  Source apportionment and source/sink relationships of PAHs in the coastal atmosphere of Chicago and Lake Michigan , 1999 .

[13]  J. Grimalt,et al.  Seasonally dependent size distributions of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban aerosols from densely populated areas , 1993 .

[14]  S. Yi,et al.  Size Distributions and Dry Deposition Fluxes of Particulate Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) at Several Sites in Korea in 1999 , 2006 .

[15]  J. Seinfeld,et al.  The smog‐fog‐smog cycle and acid deposition , 1990 .

[16]  N. Kaneyasu,et al.  Temporal trend and long-range transport of particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at Gosan in northeast Asia between 2001 and 2004 - article no. D11303 , 2006 .

[17]  S. Friedlander,et al.  Size distributions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and elemental carbon. 2. Ambient measurements and effects of atmospheric processes. , 1994, Environmental science & technology.

[18]  Adel F. Sarofim,et al.  Measurement of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Associated with Size-Segregated Atmospheric Aerosols in Massachusetts , 1996 .

[19]  W. H. Hodgson,et al.  Model for predicting dry deposition of particles and gases to environmental surfaces , 1978 .

[20]  S. Yi,et al.  Temporal and spatial variations of the particle size distribution of PAHs and their dry deposition fluxes in Korea , 2002 .

[21]  L. Chan,et al.  Vertical dispersion of suspended particulates in urban area of Hong Kong , 2000 .

[22]  I. Hung,et al.  Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in indoor air , 1992, Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[23]  K. Sakamoto,et al.  Size distributions of mutagenic compounds and mutagenicity in atmospheric particulate matter collected with a low-pressure cascade impactor , 2004 .

[24]  Erik Swietlicki,et al.  Organic aerosol and global climate modelling: a review , 2004 .

[25]  Hajime Okamoto,et al.  Global three‐dimensional simulation of aerosol optical thickness distribution of various origins , 2000 .

[26]  J. Grimalt,et al.  Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in different sized aerosols over the Mediterranean Sea: Occurrence and origin , 1987 .

[27]  C. Reddy,et al.  Combustion-Derived Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Environment—A Review , 2005 .

[28]  Y. Kim,et al.  Source apportionment of the particulate PAHs at Seoul, Korea: impact of long range transport to a megacity , 2007 .