RECETOX Centre, Masaryk University, Czech Republic.
Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Nov 1;793:148528. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148528. Epub 2021 Jun 25.
Derivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as nitrated- and oxygenated-PAHs (NPAHs and OPAHs) could be even more toxic and harmful for the environment and humans than PAHs. We assessed the spatial and seasonal variations of NPAHs and OPAHs atmospheric levels, their cancer risks and their gas-to-particle partitioning. To this end, about 250 samples of fine particulate matter (PM) and 50 gaseous samples were collected in 2017 in central Europe in the cities of Brno and Ljubljana (two traffic and two urban background sites) as well as one rural site. The average particulate concentrations were ranging from below limit of quantification to 593 pg m for ΣNPAHs and from 1.64 to 4330 pg m for ΣOPAHs, with significantly higher concentrations in winter compared to summer. In winter, the particulate levels of NPAHs and OPAHs were higher at the traffic site compared to the urban background site in Brno while the opposite was found in Ljubljana. NPAHs and OPAHs particulate levels were influenced by the meteorological parameters and co-varied with several air pollutants. The significance of secondary formation on the occurrence of some NPAHs and OPAHs is indicated. In winter, 27-47% of samples collected at all sites were above the acceptable lifetime carcinogenic risk. The gas-particle partitioning of NPAHs and OPAHs was influenced by their physico-chemical properties, the season and the site-specific aerosol composition. Three NPAHs and five OPAHs had higher particulate mass fractions at the traffic site, suggesting they could be primarily emitted as particles from vehicle traffic and subsequently partitioning to the gas phase along air transport. This study underlines the importance of inclusion of the gas phase in addition to the particulate phase when assessing the atmospheric fate of polycyclic aromatic compounds and also when assessing the related health risk.
多环芳烃（PAHs）的衍生物，如硝基和含氧多环芳烃（NPAHs 和 OPAHs），对环境和人类的毒性和危害性可能比 PAHs 更大。我们评估了 NPAHs 和 OPAHs 大气水平的空间和季节性变化、它们的致癌风险以及它们的气固分配。为此，我们于 2017 年在中欧的布尔诺和卢布尔雅那市（两个交通和两个城市背景站点）以及一个农村站点收集了约 250 个细颗粒物（PM）样本和 50 个气态样本。ΣNPAHs 的平均颗粒物浓度范围从低于定量下限到 593 pg m，ΣOPAHs 的浓度范围从 1.64 到 4330 pg m，冬季浓度明显高于夏季。冬季，与城市背景站点相比，交通站点的 NPAHs 和 OPAHs 颗粒物浓度更高，而在卢布尔雅那市则相反。NPAHs 和 OPAHs 的颗粒物浓度受气象参数的影响，并与几种空气污染物共变。这表明二次形成对一些 NPAHs 和 OPAHs 的发生具有重要意义。冬季，所有站点采集的样本中有 27-47%超过了可接受的终生致癌风险。NPAHs 和 OPAHs 的气固分配受其物理化学性质、季节和特定站点气溶胶组成的影响。三个 NPAHs 和五个 OPAHs 在交通站点的颗粒物质量分数较高，这表明它们可能主要作为车辆交通排放的颗粒物排放，并随后随着空气输送分配到气相。这项研究强调了在评估多环芳烃化合物的大气命运以及相关健康风险时，除了颗粒物相之外，还需要包括气相。
