Assessment of seasonal variations in persistent organic pollutants across the region of Tuscany using passive air samplers

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Authors

ESTELLANO SCHULZE Victor Hugo POZO Karla Andrea PŘIBYLOVÁ Petra KLÁNOVÁ Jana AUDY Ondřej FOCARDI Silvano

Year of publication 2017
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Environmental Pollution
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026974911631096X?via%3Dihub
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.08.092
Keywords POPs; PAS-PUF; Seasonal variability; Urban and rural sites; Tuscany
Description Concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were measured for an entire year in the region of Tuscany, Italy. Passive air samplers consisting of polyurethane foam (PUF) disks were deployed over four sampling periods of 3-5 months from April 2008 to July 2009 in urban (n = 6) and rural (n = 4) sites. The aim of the study was to characterize the spatial and seasonal variations in selected POPs. The POP concentrations (pg m(-3)) in the air were dominated by dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and metabolites (DDTs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (Sigma(7)PCBs). DDTs, and Sigma(7)PCBs showed a clear decreasing urban > rural gradient. The concentrations of DDTs and PCBs were up to 10 and 6 times higher, respectively, in urban sites than in rural sites. Sigma(7)PCBs showed a significant correlation with the urbanized areas located <5 km around the sampling sites. For hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), alpha-HCH concentrations were similar at both sampling sites and were found to be quite uniform during the four sampling periods. Seasonal fluctuations were observed for DDTs, and Sigma(7)PCBs, with the highest concentrations observed during period 4 (summer spring); this is most likely due to a temperature-driven re-emission from local sources. These findings were also supported by an air back trajectory analysis in the study area. This study contributes new information about POP levels in the Italian atmosphere and demonstrates the feasibility of using PUF disks to simultaneously assess seasonal concentrations at different sampling sites.
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