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Semi-volatile Organic Pollutants in the Gaseous and Particulate Phases in Urban Air

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Urban Airborne Particulate Matter

Part of the book series: Environmental Science and Engineering ((ENVSCIENCE))

Abstract

The gas-particle partitioning of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) plays an important role in the investigation of their environmental fate and long-range transport behavior. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are three groups of SVOCs ubiquitously present in the urban atmosphere. In this chapter, their partitions between gas and particle phases in the atmosphere are reviewed and discussed. The gas-particle partition coefficient Kp of SVOCs can be predicted from their subcooled liquid vapor pressure \( \left( {{\text{P}}_{\text{L}}^{^\circ } } \right) \) or the octanol-air partition coefficient (Koa). The Junge–Pankow adsorption and Koa-based absorption models are widely used to predict the partitioning of SVOCs between gas and particulate phases. Applications of these models to PAHs, PCBs and PBDEs are presented. With the available concentration data for the SVOCs worldwide, the predictability and regression linearity of the two models are discussed.

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  1. School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Hua Wei & An Li

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  1. Inst. Atmosphäre und Umwelt, AG Umweltanalytik, Universität Frankfurt, Altenhöfer Allee 1, Frankfurt, 60438, Germany

    Fathi Zereini

  2. Inst. Environmental Studies (IES), Adaptation and Impacts Research, University of Toronto, Willcocks Street 33, Toronto, M5S 3E8, Ontario, Canada

    Clare L. S. Wiseman

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Wei, H., Li, A. (2010). Semi-volatile Organic Pollutants in the Gaseous and Particulate Phases in Urban Air. In: Zereini, F., Wiseman, C. (eds) Urban Airborne Particulate Matter. Environmental Science and Engineering(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12278-1_16

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