scholarly journals Long-Term Trends in PAH Concentrations and Sources at Rural Background Site in Central Europe

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radek Lhotka ◽  
Petra Pokorná ◽  
Naděžda Zíková
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Local Heating ◽  
Rural Background ◽  
Background Site ◽  
Range Transport ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
Probable Origin ◽  
Bivariate Probability

An increased burden due to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is a long-term air quality problem in Central and Eastern Europe. Extensive PAH monitoring has been implemented at the National Atmospheric Observatory Košetice (NAOK), a rural background site in the Czech Republic, as a representative for Central Europe. Data from NAOK are used for evaluation of PAH concentration trends and source apportionment. In total, concentrations of 14 PAHs in particulate matter (PM10) and in the gas phase between 2006 and 2016 were evaluated. The highest concentrations were measured at the beginning of the study period in 2006. Mean annual concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene, for example, showed a weak, however statistically significant decreasing trend. The positive matrix factorization (PMF) was used to determine the sources of PAHs at NAOK, with three factors resolved. The probable origin areas of PMF factors were identified by the conditional bivariate probability function (CBPF) and the potential source contribution function (PSCF) methods. The NAOK is affected by local sources of PAHs, as well as by regional and long-range transport. The PAH concentrations correlate negatively with industrial production and traffic intensity. High PAH emissions have been linked to local heating, suggesting that the planned replacement of obsolete combustion sources in the households could improve the overall air quality situation, not only with respect to PAHs.

scholarly journals Nitro- and oxy-PAHs in grassland soils from decade-long sampling in central Europe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Wietzoreck ◽  
B. A. M. Bandowe ◽  
J. Hofman ◽  
J. Martiník ◽  
B. Nežiková ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Complete Understanding ◽  
Oxidative Potential ◽  
Terrestrial Environment ◽  
Annual Variations ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Background Site ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic

AbstractLong-term exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their nitrated (NPAHs) and oxygenated (OPAHs) derivatives can cause adverse health effects due to their carcinogenicity, mutagenicity and oxidative potential. The distribution of PAH derivatives in the terrestrial environment has hardly been studied, although several PAH derivatives are ubiquitous in air and long-lived in soil and water. We report the multi-annual variations in the concentrations of NPAHs, OPAHs and PAHs in soils sampled at a semi-urban (Mokrá, Czech Republic) and a regional background site (Košetice, Czech Republic) in central Europe. The concentrations of the Σ18NPAHs and the Σ11+2OPAHs and O-heterocycles were 0.31 ± 0.23 ng g−1 and 4.03 ± 3.03 ng g−1, respectively, in Košetice, while slightly higher concentrations of 0.54 ± 0.45 ng g−1 and 5.91 ± 0.45 ng g−1, respectively, were found in soil from Mokrá. Among the 5 NPAHs found in the soils, 1-nitropyrene and less so 6-nitrobenzo(a)pyrene were most abundant. The OPAHs were more evenly distributed. The ratios of the PAH derivatives to their parent PAHs in Košetice indicate that they were long-range transported to the background site. Our results show that several NPAHs and OPAHs are abundant in soil and that gas-particle partitioning is a major factor influencing the concentration of several semi-volatile NPAHs and OPAHs in the soils. Complete understanding of the long-term variations of NPAH and OPAH concentrations in soil is limited by the lack of kinetic data describing their formation and degradation.

PM2.5 chemical composition at a rural background site in Central Europe, including correlation and air mass back trajectory analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 176-177 ◽  
pp. 108-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Schwarz ◽  
Michael Cusack ◽  
Jindřich Karban ◽  
Eva Chalupníčková ◽  
Vladimír Havránek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Trajectory Analysis ◽  
Back Trajectory ◽  
Air Mass ◽  
Rural Background ◽  
Background Site ◽  
Back Trajectory Analysis

Four years of highly time resolved measurements of elemental and organic carbon at a rural background site in Central Europe

2018 ◽  
Vol 182 ◽  
pp. 335-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saliou Mbengue ◽  
Michal Fusek ◽  
Jaroslav Schwarz ◽  
Petr Vodička ◽  
Adéla Holubová Šmejkalová ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Rural Background ◽  
Background Site ◽  
Time Resolved Measurements

scholarly journals Atmospheric deposition of chlorinated and brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in central Europe analyzed by GC-MS/MS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong Jin ◽  
Benjamin A. Musa Bandowe ◽  
Minghui Zheng ◽  
Guorui Liu ◽  
Barbora Nežiková ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽  
Atmospheric Environment ◽  
Urban Site ◽  
Quadrupole Mass ◽  
Deposition Fluxes ◽  
Background Site ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
First Time

AbstractChlorinated and brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ClPAHs and BrPAHs) are persistent organic pollutants that are ubiquitous in the atmospheric environment. The sources, fate, and sinks in the atmosphere of these substances are largely unknown. One of the reasons is the lack of widely accessible analytical instrumentation. In this study, a new analytical method for ClPAHs and BrPAHs using gas-chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry is presented. The method was applied to determine ClPAHs and BrPAHs in total deposition samples collected at two sites in central Europe. Deposition fluxes of ClPAHs and BrPAHs ranged 580 (272–962) and 494 (161–936) pg m−2 day−1, respectively, at a regional background site, Košetice, and 547 (351–724) and 449 (202–758) pg m−2 day−1, respectively, at a semi-urban site, Praha-Libuš. These fluxes are similar to those of PCBs and more than 2 orders of magnitude lower than those of the parent PAHs in the region. Seasonal variations of the deposition fluxes of these halogenated PAHs were found with maxima in summer and autumn, and minima in winter at Košetice, but vice versa at Praha-Libuš. The distribution of ClPAHs and BrPAHs between the particulate and dissolved phases in deposition samples suggests higher degradability of particulate BrFlt/Pyr and BrBaA than of the corresponding ClPAHs. A number of congeners were detected for the first time in the atmospheric environment.

scholarly journals Measurements of atmospheric mercury species at a German rural background site from 2009 to 2011 – methods and results

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Weigelt ◽  
Christian Temme ◽  
Elke Bieber ◽  
Andreas Schwerin ◽  
Maik Schuetze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Elemental Mercury ◽  
Atmospheric Mercury ◽  
Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Mercury Species ◽  
Total Gaseous Mercury ◽  
Gaseous Elemental Mercury ◽  
Rural Background ◽  
Background Site ◽  
Gaseous Mercury

Environmental context Mercury is a very hazardous substance for human and environmental health. Systematic long-term direct measurements in the atmosphere can provide valuable information about the effect of emission controls on the global budget of atmospheric mercury, and offer insight into source–receptor transboundary transport of mercury. A complete setup for the measurement of the four most relevant atmospheric mercury species (total gaseous mercury, gaseous oxidised mercury, particle-bound mercury, and gaseous elemental mercury) has been operating at the rural background site of Waldhof, Germany, since 2009. We present the dataset for 2009–2011, the first full-speciation time series for atmospheric mercury reported in Central Europe. Abstract Measurements of mercury species started in 2009 at the air pollution monitoring site ‘Waldhof’ of the German Federal Environmental Agency. Waldhof (52°48′N, 10°45′E) is a rural background site located in the northern German lowlands in a flat terrain, 100km south-east of Hamburg. The temporally highly resolved measurements of total gaseous mercury (TGM), gaseous oxidised mercury (GOM), particle-bound mercury (PBMPM2.5, with particulate matter of a diameter of ≤2.5µm) and gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) cover the period from 2009 to 2011. The complete measurement procedure turned out to be well applicable to detect GOM and PBMPM2.5 levels in the range of 0.4 to 65pgm–3. As the linearity of the analyser was proven to be constant over orders of magnitude, even larger concentrations can be measured accurately. The 3-year median concentration of GEM is found to be 1.61ngm–3, representing typical northern hemispheric background concentrations. With 6.3pgm–3, the 3-year average concentration of PBMPM2.5 is found to be approximately six times higher than the 3-year average GOM concentration. During winter the PBMPM2.5 concentration is on average twice as high as the PBMPM2.5 summer concentration, whereas the GOM concentration shows no clear seasonality. However, on a comparatively low level, a significant diurnal cycle is shown for GOM concentrations. This cycle is most likely related to photochemical oxidation mechanisms. Comparison with selected North American long-term mercury speciation datasets shows that the Waldhof 3-year median speciated mercury data represent typical rural background values.

scholarly journals Chemically speciated mass size distribution, particle effective density and origin of non-refractory PM<sub>1 </sub>measured at a rural background site in Central Europe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Pokorná ◽  
Naděžda Zíková ◽  
Radek Lhotka ◽  
Petr Vodička ◽  
Saliou Mbengue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Size Distribution ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Effective Density ◽  
Long Range Transport ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Mass Size Distribution ◽  
Background Site ◽  
Range Transport ◽  
Mass Size

Abstract. The seasonal variability of non-refractory PM1 (NR-PM1) was studied at a rural background site (National Atmospheric Observatory Košetice – NAOK) in the Czech Republic to examine the impact of atmospheric regional and long-range transport in Central Europe. NR-PM1 measurements were performed by compact time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometry (C-ToF-AMS), and the chemically speciated mass size distributions, effective density, and origin were discussed. The average PM1 concentrations, calculated as the sum of the NR-PM1 (after collection efficiency corrections – CE corrections of 0.4 and 0.33 in summer and winter, respectively) and the equivalent black carbon (eBC) concentrations measured by an aethalometer (AE), were 8.58 ± 3.70 μg m−3 in summer and 10.08 ± 8.04 μg m−3 in winter. Organics dominated during both campaigns (summer/winter: 4.97 ± 2.92/4.55 ± 4.40 μg m−3), followed by sulphate in summer (1.68 ± 0.81/1.36± 1.38 μg m−3) and nitrate in winter (0.67 ± 0.38/2.03 ± 1.71 μg m−3). The accumulation mode dominated the average mass size distribution during both seasons, with larger particles of all species measured in winter (mode diameters: Org: 334/413 nm, NO3−: 377/501 nm, SO42−: 400/547 nm, and NH4+: 489/515 nm) pointing to regional and long-range transport. However, since the winter aerosols were less oxidized than the summer aerosols (comparing fragments f44 and f43), the importance of local sources in the cold part of the year was not negligible. The average PM1 particle effective density, defined as the ratio of the mass to the volume of a particle, corresponded to higher inorganic contents during both seasons (summer: ∼ 1.30 g cm−3 and winter: ∼ 1.40 g cm−3). However, the effective densities during episodes of higher mass concentrations calculated based on the particle number (mobility diameter) and mass size distribution (vacuum aerodynamic diameter) were even higher, ranging from 1.40–1.60 g cm−3 in summer and from 1.40–1.75 g cm−3 in winter. Although aged continental air masses from the SE were rare in summer (7 %), they were connected with the highest concentrations of all NR-PM1 species, especially sulphate and ammonium. In winter, slow continental air masses from the SW (44 %) were linked to inversion conditions over Central Europe and were associated with the highest concentrations among all NR-PM1 measurements.

scholarly journals 9-year trends of PM<sub>10 </sub>sources and oxidative potential in a rural background site in France

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucille Joanna Borlaza ◽  
Samuël Weber ◽  
Anouk Marsal ◽  
Gaëlle Uzu ◽  
Véronique Jacob ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Chemical Constituents ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Oxidative Potential ◽  
Specific Chemical ◽  
Rural Background ◽  
Particulate Pollution ◽  
Background Site ◽  
Long Term Study

Abstract. Long-term monitoring at sites with relatively low particulate pollution could provide an opportunity to identify changes in pollutant concentration and potential effects of current air quality policies. In this study, a 9-year sampling of PM10 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter below 10 µm) was performed in a rural background site in France from February 28, 2012 to December 22, 2020. The Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) method was used to apportion sources of PM10 based on quantified chemical constituents and specific chemical tracers from collected filters. Oxidative potential (OP), an emerging health-metric that measures PM capability to potentially cause anti-oxidant imbalance in the lung, was also measured using two acellular assays: dithiothreitol (DTT) and ascorbic acid (AA). The contribution of PMF-resolved sources to OP were also estimated using multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis. In terms of mass contribution, the dominant sources are secondary aerosols (nitrate- and sulphate-rich), associated with long-range transport (LRT). However, in terms of OP contributions, the main drivers are traffic, mineral dust, and biomass burning factors. There is also some OP contribution apportioned to the sulphate- and nitrate-rich sources influenced by processes and aging during LRT that could have encouraged mixing with other anthropogenic sources. The study indicates much lower OP values than in urban areas. A substantial decrease (58 % reduction from year 2012 to 2020) in the mass contributions from the traffic factor was found, however, this is not clearly reflected in its OP contribution. Nevertheless, the findings in this long-term study in the OPE site could signal effectiveness of implemented emission control policies, as also seen in other long-term studies conducted in Europe, mainly for urban areas.

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