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Source and yearly distribution of PAHs in the snow from the Hailuogou glacier of Mountain Gongga, China

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Abstract

Snow samples were collected over a 3-year period from 2012 to 2014 at the Hailuogou glacier of Mountain Gongga (Mt. Gongga) and analyzed for 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS). The results show that total average levels of the 16 PAHs ranged from 452 to 290 ng·L−1 with a possible declining trend from 2012 to 2014. Distances between the sampling sites and the emission sources were estimated at typically less than 500 km. The results suggest that the major source of PAHs was from coal combustion, while contributions from automobile exhaust played an important role in more recent years. This finding was in agreement with the characteristics of presence of local industry, residence, and recent development of tourism of the surrounding areas.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41073085, 41573014) and the program of Sichuan Province for research innovation team of universities (12TD001). The authors thank Prof. Belzile N and Chen YW at Laurentian University (Canada) and Dr. S. Huang at Mallinckrodt Biopharmaceuticals (USA) for the helpful edits and valuable discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials and Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China

    Chaoqi Yu, Yinling Cao, Xian He, Hong Zhou & Chongying Li

  2. Sichuan University of Arts and Science, Dazhou, 635000, China

    Meihan Li

  3. Chongqing Test Center of Geology and Minerals, Chongqing, 400042, China

    Tingting Zhang

Authors
  1. Chaoqi Yu
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  2. Meihan Li
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  3. Yinling Cao
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  4. Xian He
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  5. Hong Zhou
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  7. Chongying Li
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chongying Li.

Appendix 1: GC/MS results of 16 PAHs in Hailuoguo snow samples

Appendix 1: GC/MS results of 16 PAHs in Hailuoguo snow samples

See Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5.

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Yu, C., Li, M., Cao, Y. et al. Source and yearly distribution of PAHs in the snow from the Hailuogou glacier of Mountain Gongga, China. Acta Geochim 37, 456–464 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-017-0231-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-017-0231-x

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