Abstract
Concentrations of 16 PAHs of different molecular weight and carcinogenic potency were measured in PM2.5 aerosols collected
in the coastal zone of southern Baltic Sea (Gdynia, Poland) during the end of the heating and beginning of the non-heating season
of 2012. Obtained results showed that coal combustion (pyrogenic source) contributed to the highest emission of PAHs during the heating season. However, similar concentrations of highly carcinogenic PAHs were detected in the non-heating period. The analysis of prevailing wind directions, air mass trajectories and diagnostic PAH ratios revealed that in addition to land transport emission (mainly from diesel vehicles), the increase in sea shipping traffic during the non-heating season contributed to the high concentrations of detected carcinogenic PAHs. We conclude that the increasing maritime activity in the southern Baltic Sea region might have an adverse effect on both environmental and human health. Therefore, it should receive more attention by the Polish government as a pollutant source.
in the coastal zone of southern Baltic Sea (Gdynia, Poland) during the end of the heating and beginning of the non-heating season
of 2012. Obtained results showed that coal combustion (pyrogenic source) contributed to the highest emission of PAHs during the heating season. However, similar concentrations of highly carcinogenic PAHs were detected in the non-heating period. The analysis of prevailing wind directions, air mass trajectories and diagnostic PAH ratios revealed that in addition to land transport emission (mainly from diesel vehicles), the increase in sea shipping traffic during the non-heating season contributed to the high concentrations of detected carcinogenic PAHs. We conclude that the increasing maritime activity in the southern Baltic Sea region might have an adverse effect on both environmental and human health. Therefore, it should receive more attention by the Polish government as a pollutant source.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1291-1301 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 5 Sept 2019 |
Bibliographical note
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Keywords
- BaP-TEQ
- Deposition flux
- Diagnostic ratios
- PAHs
- PM2.5