Fate of PAHs in the vicinity of aluminum smelter

Efficiency comparison of extraction methods for the determination of 11 of the 16 USEPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water matrices: Sources of origin and ecological risk assessment

As a result of their toxicity, ease of analysis, and environmental occurrence, 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were chosen as priority pollutants by the USEPA. Few studies have been conducted to assess the levels of PAHs in South Africa, especially KwaZulu Natal province, and no work has been done in the selected study area. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the levels of such PAHs in river water and wastewater samples and evaluate their source and ecological risk. The status of these PAHs in the South African environment has not been investigated fully, which is a gap this study intended to fill. The PAHs were determined using solid-phase extraction (SPE) and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) methods. The optimization and validation of these methods indicated that both methods can be used for the extraction of PAHs in liquid samples. This is because of the acceptable %recovery of 72.1%-118% for SPE and 70.7%-88.4% for DLLME with a %RSD less than 10% (indicating high precision) that was obtained. The limit of detection and limit of quantification ranged from 5.0 to 18 ng/L and 6.0-20 ng/L for SPE and from 10 to 44 ng/L and 11 to 63 ng/L for DLLME. These results demonstrated that SPE is more accurate and sensitive than DLLME, which was also confirmed by statistical analysis. The PAH concentration levels ranged from not detected (nd) to 1046 ng/L in river water and nd to 778 ng/L in wastewater samples with naphthalene demonstrating dominance over all other PAHs in both water matrices. The PAHs were found to be of petrogenic origin and posed low ecological risk on average. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:1598-1610. © 2024 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

The concentration and probabilistic health risk assessment attribute to PAHs in indoor air of Hormozgan aluminum plant, Iran

We measured PAHs concentrations to understand the potential short and long-term health risks to workers. In the anode cooking area, the lowest and highest concentrations of PAHs were found for DahA (dibenzo[a,h]anthracene) at 0.373 ± 0.326 µg/m3 and Chry (chrysene) at 1.923 ± 1.258 µg/m3, respectively. In the anode-making area, these concentrations were higher, with DahA at 0.435 ± 0.221 µg/m3 and Chry peaking at 3.841 ± 1.702 µg/m3. Risk assessment based on these concentrations indicates a hierarchical order of individual PAHs risks in the anode cooking area, led by BaP (benzo[a]pyrene), followed by other specific PAHs compounds. The total hazard quotient (THQ) for PAH exposure in both anode-making and cooking areas significantly exceeds the threshold for considered cancer risk, emphasizing the considerable danger to workers. This study underscores the urgent need to mitigate exposure to PAHs in industrial settings to protect worker health from the carcinogenic risks of such hazardous compounds.

Biomonitoring of atmospheric PAHs using fir and spruce needles in forests in the vicinity of mountain villages

The aim of the study was to use chemical analyses of spruce and fir needles to determine environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in forests surrounding small mountain towns, including popular tourist destinations. The Beskid Mountains in Poland were chosen as the study area because they are very popular with tourists. The 6- and 12 month old needles were collected in two consecutive years from permanent study plots. Two vintages of needles were used to determine the differences between seasons in the profile of deposited pollutants. Some of plots were located away from roads and buildings, while others were located near tourist destinations. The comparison plots were located in the centre of a tourist resort, near a highway, and in a forest localised in the industrial city characterised by a high degree of urbanization. The analyses of 15 PAHs content showed that the amount and type of compounds retained by the needles were influenced not only by the proximity and amount of the surface emitters, but also by the location of the research sites above sea level. The results obtained can be explained, among other things, by the phenomenon of smog, which is not uncommon in the study region in autumn and winter.

Pot study using Chlorophytum comosum plants to biomonitor PAH levels in domestic kitchens

In indoor environments, cooking is a major contributor to indoor air pollution releasing potentially harmful toxic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In our study, Chlorophytum comosum 'Variegata' plants were applied to monitor PAH emission rates and patterns in previously selected rural Hungarian kitchens. Concentration and profile of accumulated PAHs could be well explained by cooking methods and materials used in each kitchen. Accumulation of 6-ring PAHs was characteristic in the only kitchen which frequently used deep frying. It also should be emphasized that applicability of C. comosum as indoor biomonitor was assessed. The plant has proven a good monitor organism as it accumulated both LMW and HMW PAHs.

Revealing the Chemical Profiles of Airborne Particulate Matter Sources in Lake Baikal Area: A Combination of Three Techniques

Positive matrix factorization (PMF) is a widely used multivariate source apportionment technique. However, PMF-derived source profiles are never compared to real ones because of the absence of data on the chemical composition of source emissions. The aim of this study was to verify the validity of PMF-derived source profiles using the diagnostic ratios (DR) method and end-member mixing analysis (EMMA). The composition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in particulate matter (PM) sampled in the air above Lake Baikal in summer and the composition of inorganic elements (IE) in PM accumulated in Lake Baikal snowpack were used as study objects. Five PAH sources and five IE sources were identified using PMF. Eight PAHs and six IEs selected from PMF-derived source profiles were recognized as eligible for calculating the DRs (species 1/(species 1 + species 2)) suitable for testing PMF results using EMMA. EMMA was based on determining whether most samples in mixing diagrams that use DR values as coordinates of source points could be bound by a geometrical shape whose vertices are pollution sources. It was found that the four PAH sources and four IE sources obtained using PMF were also identified using EMMA. Thus, the validity of the most of PMF-derived source profiles was proved.

Accumulation pattern of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using Plantago lanceolata L. as passive biomonitor

Biomonitors are considered a cheap alternative of active air samplers, especially where spatial pattern of air quality is to be monitored, requiring numerous parallel measurements. Of higher plants, Plantago lanceolata L. has been proven a good monitor species with proper accumulation capacity. While biomonitoring studies are difficult to compare due to inherent errors such as the diverse plant material used in different studies, the No. 227 OECD GUIDELINE FOR THE TESTING OF CHEMICALS: Terrestrial Plant Test: Vegetative Vigour Test provides a tool to test extract of aerosol samples under controlled laboratory conditions. In our study, this guideline was followed to experimentally treat Plantago with the aqueous extract of a diesel exhaust sample. Accumulation pattern of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was assessed and compared to samples collected in the field. Unlike most studies reported in the literature, both in the experimentally treated and field Plantago samples, high ratio of high molecular weight PAHs was experienced. Distribution pattern of accumulated PAHs showed strong correlation between the experimentally treated sample and most of the field plantain samples, underlying the usefulness of laboratory treatments for bioaccumulation studies.

Multi-year Analyses Reveal Different Trends, Sources, and Implications for Source-Related Human Health Risks of Atmospheric Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Canadian Great Lakes Basin

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are of high concern to public health due to their carcinogenic and mutagenic properties. Here, we present the first comprehensive and quantitative analysis of sources, potential source regions according to source sectors and source-related human health risks of multi-year atmospheric measurements of PAHs in the Canadian Great Lakes Basin (GLB). The highest PAH concentrations were observed at a rural residential site (Egbert), followed by two regionally representative remote sites [Point Petre (PPT) and Burnt Island]. The levels of most PAHs in the GLB atmosphere significantly decreased between 1997 and 2017, broadly consistent with the decreasing trends of anthropogenic emissions. Coal, liquid fossil fuel, and biomass burning were the most common potential sources. The potential source regions for most source sectors were identified south or southwest of the sampling sites. Risk assessment suggests potential health risks associated with the inhalation of atmospheric PAHs. On a positive note, health risks from coal combustion, liquid fossil fuel combustion, and petrogenic sources at PPT significantly decreased, directly demonstrating the success of emission control in reducing health impacts. In contrast, the health risk from forest fire-related PAH emissions may play an increasing role in the future due to climate change.

Anaerobic digestion, mixing, environmental fate, and transport

This section covers research published during the calendar year 2018 on mixing and transport processes. The review covers mixing of anaerobic digesters, mixing of heat transfer, and environmental fate and transport.