Source Apportionment of Atmospheric PAHs in the Western Balkans by Natural Abundance Radiocarbon Analysis

Progress in source apportionment of priority combus tion-derived atmospheric pollutants can be made by an inverse approach to inventory emissions, namely, receptor-based compound class-specific radiocarbon analysis (CCSRA) of target pollutants. In the present study, CCSRA of the combustion-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in the atmosphere of the countries of the former republic of Yugoslavia was performed. The carbon stable isotope composition (13C) of PAHs varied between -27.68 and -27.19, whereas 14C values ranged from -568 for PAHs sampled in Kosovo to -288 for PAHs sampled in the Sarajevo area. The application of an isotopic mass balance model to these 14C data revealed a significant contribution (35-65%) from the combustion of non-fossil material to the atmospheric PAH pollution, even in urban and industrialized areas. Furthermore, consistency was observed between the isotopic composition of PAHs obtained by high-volume sampling and those collected by passive sampling. This encourages the use of passive samplers for CCSRA applications. This marks the first time that a CCSRA investigation could be executed on a geographically wide scale, providing a quantitative field-based source apportionment, which points out that also non-fossil combustion processes should be targeted for remedial action. (A)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0013936X
• Authors:
  • ZENACK, Z
  • KLANOVA, J
  • HOULOUBEK, I
  • GUSTAFSSON, O
• Publication Date: 2007-4-20

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 3850-3855
• Serial:
  • Environmental Science & Technology
  • Volume: 41
  • Issue Number: 11
  • Publisher: American Chemical Society
  • ISSN: 0013-936X
  • EISSN: 1520-5851
  • Serial URL: http://pubs.acs.org/journal/esthag

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Combustion; Data collection; Environment; Evaluation; Pollution
• Geographic Terms: Bosnia and Hercegovina; Kosovo (Republic)
• ITRD Terms: 3860: Combustion; 8623: Data acquisition; 2455: Environment; 9020: Evaluation (assessment); 2453: Pollution; 9084: Use; 8128: Yugoslavia
• Subject Areas: Energy; Environment; I15: Environment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01060954
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Sep 10 2007 1:40PM