Spatial and temporal trends of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in a rural area of northern Spain

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 370; no. 1; pp. 157 - 167
• Main Authors: Parra, M.A., González, L., Elustondo, D., Garrigó, J., Bermejo, R., Santamaría, J.M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier B.V 15.10.2006; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Air - analysis; Air - standards; Air Pollutants - analysis; Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; BTEX; Environmental Monitoring; Exact sciences and technology; Gas chromatography; Geostatistical analysis; Organic Chemicals - analysis; Pollutants physicochemistry study: properties, effects, reactions, transport and distribution; Pollution; Rural atmosphere; Rural Health; Spain; Thermal desorption; Volatilization; Europe; Spain; Gas chromatography; Geostatistical analysis; BTEX; Thermal desorption; Rural atmosphere; Chemical analysis; Environmental factor; Spatial variation; Time variation; Passive detection; Rural area; Qualitative analysis; Aromatic compound; Sampling; Organic compounds; Cartography; Statistical analysis; Hydrocarbon; Geostatistics; Ozone; Air quality; Volatile organic compound; Surveillance; Air pollution; Nitrogen dioxide; Concentration distribution
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.06.022

Ambient concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured at 40 rural sampling points in Navarre (northern Spain). Air samples were collected by means of sorbent passive sampling and analyzed by thermal desorption (TD) and gas chromatography/mass-selective detector (GC/MSD). A total of 140 VOCs were identified during the study, which was carried out between May to October 2004 for a total of a 10 biweekly sampling campaigns. Concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m/ p-xylenes, o-xylene (BTEX) and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene were determined in order to investigate their temporal and spatial distributions. Geostatistical analysis pointed to traffic as the main emission source of these compounds. Supporting this idea, BTEX and nitrogen oxides concentrations were found to be highly significantly correlated ( r = 0.495, P = 0.001), whereas a strong negative correlation between BTEX and ozone was also observed ( r = − 0.355, P = 0.025). The concentrations for the BTEX group were similar to the values that have been previously reported for other rural areas.