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Atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of southern Taiwan in relation to monsoons

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Abstract

The concentrations and gas-particle partitioning of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were intensively measured in the Hengchun Peninsula of southern Taiwan. The concentrations of total PAH (Σ38PAH), including gas and particle phases, ranged from 0.85 to 4.40 ng m−3. No significant differences in the PAH levels and patterns were found between the samples taken at day and at night. The gas phase PAH concentrations were constant year-round, but the highest levels of particle-associated PAHs were found during the northeast monsoon season. Long-range transport and rainfall scavenging mechanisms contributed to the elevated levels in aerosols andΣ38PAH concentrations. Results from principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the major sources of PAHs in this study were vehicular emissions. The back trajectories demonstrated that air mass movement driven by the monsoon system was the main influence on atmospheric PAH profiles and concentrations in the rural region of southern Taiwan. Gas-particle partition coefficients (K p ) of PAHs were well-correlated with sub-cooled liquid vapor pressures (P o L ) and demonstrated significant seasonal variation between the northeast (NE) and the southwest (SW) monsoon seasons. This study sheds light on the role of Asian monsoons regarding the atmospheric transport of PAHs.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge financial support from the National Science Council (Ministry of Science and Technology) under contract number 99-2611-M291-001 and gratefully acknowledge the US NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) for providing the HYSPLIT transport and dispersion model on the READY website (http://ready.arl.noaa.gov). We also highly appreciate two anonymous reviewers who gave constructive comments to improve the quality of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Pingtung, Taiwan

    Jing-O Cheng & Fung-Chi Ko

  2. Department of Marine Environment and Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Jing-O Cheng, Chon-Lin Lee & Meng-Der Fang

  3. Institute of Marine Biology, National Dong-Hwa University, 2, Houwan Road, Checheng, Pingtung, Taiwan

    Fung-Chi Ko

  4. Kuroshio Research Group, Asia-Pacific Ocean Research Center, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Chon-Lin Lee

  5. Center for Emerging Contaminants Research, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Chon-Lin Lee

  6. Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Meng-Der Fang

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  1. Jing-O Cheng
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  2. Fung-Chi Ko
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Correspondence to Fung-Chi Ko.

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Responsible editor: Constantini Samara

Highlights

1. Atmospheric particle sources and rainfall scavenging mechanisms could be contributing to seasonal variations in PAH concentrations.

2. Long-range transport driven by monsoon system was the main influence of atmospheric profiles and gas-particle partitioning of PAHs.

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Cheng, JO., Ko, FC., Lee, CL. et al. Atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of southern Taiwan in relation to monsoons. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 15675–15688 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6751-9

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