Levels, Sources and Toxicity Risks of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons at an Island Site in the Gulf of Tonkin

Xiaoyang Yang, Shijie Liu, Yuanguan Gao, Wenjuan Zhao, Yu Liu, Jingying Mao and Zhaoyu Mo
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Xiaoyang Yang: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Shijie Liu: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Yuanguan Gao: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Wenjuan Zhao: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Yu Liu: School of Pharmacy, Liaoning University, Shenyang 110036, China
Jingying Mao: Scientific Research Academy of Guangxi Environmental Protection, Nanning 530022, China
Zhaoyu Mo: Scientific Research Academy of Guangxi Environmental Protection, Nanning 530022, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: The varying concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at remote islands is an important indicator, demonstrating the contributions from different regional combustion sources. In this study, gaseous and particulate PAHs were measured at Weizhou Island in the Gulf of Tonkin from 15th March to 14th April, 2015. The concentrations of PAHs ranged from 116.22 to 186.74 ng/m 3 and from 40.19 to 61.86 ng/m 3 in gas and particulate phase, respectively, which were much higher than those of some remote sites in Asia. Phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, and chrysene, which were mainly found in diesel vehicle emissions, had relatively high concentrations in both gas and particulate phases. According to the comprehensive results of back trajectory cluster analysis and diagnostic ratios, the local vessel emission was probably the main source of PAHs, which was much more important than the coal and biomass combustion sources from remoter regions. The toxicities represented by ∑PAH 7 , benzo( a )pyrene-equivalent carcinogenic power, and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin-based total toxicity potency are much higher in particulate phase than those in gas phase. However, the toxicities of gas phase should not be neglected from the point of view of indirect-acting mutagenicities due to the high contribution of fluoranthene.

Keywords: PAHs; Gulf of Tonkin; diagnostic ratio; back trajectory analysis; toxicity risk (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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