Gas/particle partitioning of PAHs and PCBs in the Arctic atmosphere
- Atmospheric Environment Service, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
- Bovar Environmental, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
- Freshwater Inst., Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada)
As part of an ongoing Arctic atmospheric sampling campaign to study persistent organic pollutants, weekly air samples have been collected at Alert on Ellesmere Island and at Tagish in the Yukon since 1992. For each High-Volume air sample, the particulate fraction (F) was collected on a glass fiber filter while the vapor phase (A) was trapped on polyurethane foam (PUF) adsorbents. The semi-volatile PAHs and PCBs, partition between the vapor and particle phases in the atmosphere. In the Arctic atmosphere, both PAHs and PCBs showed increased particulate phase loading relative to warmer temperate regions. During the colder months, significant fractions of the lighter more volatile PAH were present on particles. Particulate sulfate concentrations measured routinely at Alert are shown to be a good surrogate for total suspended particulate (TSP) and aerosol surface area. During the haze period, sulfate made up the highest proportion of the aerosol mass and an excellent correlation (r{sup 2} = 0.94) was observed between sulfate particulate and total aerosol surface area. Using the aerosol surface area derived from sulfate concentrations, the Junge-Pankow model reasonably predicts the particulate fraction for individual compounds in the Arctic atmosphere, for vapor pressures derived at {minus}30 C and {minus}9 C respectively. TSP (sulfate) normalized partition coefficients of the form long A(TSP)/F were strongly correlated with those coefficients derived from temperate remote studies, where TSP was measured directly or assumed.
- OSTI ID:
- 462534
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961149--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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