Comparison of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in airborne particulates collected in downtown and suburban Kanazawa, Japan

• Published in: Atmospheric environment (1994) Vol. 36; no. 35; pp. 5535 - 5541
• Main Authors: Hayakawa, Kazuichi, Tang, Ning, Akutsu, Kazuhiko, Murahashi, Tsuyoshi, Kakimoto, Hitoshi, Kizu, Ryoichi, Toriba, Akira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2002; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Chemical composition and interactions. Ionic interactions and processes; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Meteorology; Nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon; Photodegradation; Pollutants physicochemistry study: properties, effects, reactions, transport and distribution; Pollution; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon; Urban air; Asia; Japan; Photodegradation; Urban air; Nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon; Nitro compound; Hydrocarbon; Air quality; Urban area; Polycyclic aromatic compound; Time variation; Suspended particle; Pyrene; Atmospheric chemistry; Seasonal variation; Content; Aerosols; Reaction mechanism; Air pollution; Suburban zone; Kinetics; Rate constant; Organic compounds; Photochemical degradation
• ISSN: 1352-2310; 1873-2844
• DOI: 10.1016/S1352-2310(02)00252-2

In this study, airborne particulates were collected at three sites, two in a downtown area and the other in a suburban area of Kanazawa, Japan in each season for 7 years. Two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pyrene (Py) and benzo[ a]pyrene (BaP) and four nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs), 1-nitropyrene (NP) and 1,3-, 1,6-, and 1,8-dinitropyrenes (DNP) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence and chemiluminescence detection. At the downtown sites, the mean concentration of each DNP was about two orders of magnitude lower than that of 1-NP and more than three orders of magnitude lower than those of Py and BaP. This tendency reflected the composition of PAHs and NPAHs in diesel-engine exhaust particulates. Concentrations of these PAHs and NPAHs were higher at the downtown sites than at the suburban site, suggesting the dilution of these compounds during the transportation from the downtown to the suburban area. The concentration ratios of NPAHs to PAHs were larger at the downtown sites than at the suburban site. Studies using UV light and sunlight showed that degradation of NPAHs was faster than that of PAHs. Thus, the lower concentrations of NPAHs in the suburban sites may be due to their being photodegraded faster than PAHs during the atmospheric transportation from the downtown area to the suburban area.