Environ Health Toxicol.  2011 ;26(1):e2011004.

Relationship between PAHs Concentrations in Ambient Air and Deposited on Pine Needles

• Chun MY

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study was carried out to determine whether or not pine needles can be used as passive samplers of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using the correlation between accumulated PAH concentrations in air (Ca, ng/m3) and those deposited on pine needles (Cp, ng/g dry).
METHODS
PAHs in ambient air was collected using low volume PUF sampler and pine needles was gathered at same place for 7 months.
RESULTS
good correlation (R2=0.8582, p<0.05) was found between Ca and Cp for PAHs with a higher gaseous state in air (AcPy, Acp, Flu, Phen, Ant, Flt, Pyr, BaA and Chry), but there was a poorer correlation (R2=0.1491, p=0.5123) for the PAHs with a lower gaseous state (BbF, BkF, BaP, DahA, BghiP and Ind123). A positive correlation (R2=0.8542) was revealed between the logarithm of the octanol-air partitioning coefficient (logKoa) and Cp/Ca for the PAHs with a higher gaseous state in air, but there was a negative correlation (R2=0.8131) for the PAHs with a lower gaseous state. The Ca-Cp model could not be used to estimate PAHs concentrations in air using deposited PAHs concentrations on pine needles, but the logKoa-Cp/Ca model could be used.
CONCLUSIONS
It was found that pine needles can be used as passive samplers of atmospheric PAHs.

Keyword

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs); Air; Pine needles; Passive sampler; LogKoa-Cp/Ca model

MeSH Terms

Ants
Hypogonadism
Mitochondrial Diseases
Needles
Ophthalmoplegia
Polycyclic Hydrocarbons, Aromatic
Hypogonadism
Mitochondrial Diseases
Ophthalmoplegia
Polycyclic Hydrocarbons, Aromatic