Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in background air around the Aegean: implications for phase partitioning and size distribution

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Authors

BESIS Athanasios LAMMEL Gerhard KUKUČKA Petr SAMARA Constantini SOFUOGLU Aysun DUMANOGLU Yetkin ELEFTHERIADIS Kostas KOUVARAKIS Giorgos SOFUOGLU Sait C. VASSILATOU Vassiliki VOUTSA Dimitra

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

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11356-017-0285-7
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0285-7
Keywords Absorption/adsorption models; Gas/particle partitioning; Long-range transport; Aerosol mass size distribution
Description The occurrence and atmospheric behavior of tri- to deca-polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were investigated during a 2-week campaign concurrently conducted in July 2012 at four background sites around the Aegean Sea. The study focused on the gas/particle (G/P) partitioning at three sites (Ag. Paraskevi/central Greece/suburban, Finokalia/southern Greece/remote coastal, and Urla/Turkey/rural coastal) and on the size distribution at two sites (Neochorouda/northern Greece/rural inland and Finokalia/southern Greece/remote coastal). The lowest mean total (G + P) concentrations of a(7)PBDE (BDE-28, BDE-47, BDE-66, BDE-99, BDE-100, BDE-153, BDE-154) and BDE-209 (0.81 and 0.95 pg m(-3), respectively) were found at the remote site Finokalia. Partitioning coefficients, K (P), were calculated, and their linear relationships with ambient temperature and the physicochemical properties of the analyzed PBDE congeners, i.e., the subcooled liquid pressure (P (L)A degrees) and the octanol-air partition coefficient (K (OA)), were investigated. The equilibrium adsorption (P (L)A degrees-based) and absorption (K (OA)-based) models, as well as a steady-state absorption model including an equilibrium and a non-equilibrium term, both being functions of log K (OA), were used to predict the fraction I broken vertical bar of PBDEs associated with the particle phase. The steady-state model proved to be superior to predict G/P partitioning of BDE-209. The distribution of particle-bound PBDEs across size fractions < 0.95, 0.95-1.5, 1.5-3.0, 3.0-7.2, and > 7.2 mu m indicated a positive correlation between the mass median aerodynamic diameter and log P (L)A degrees for the less brominated congeners, whereas a negative correlation was observed for the high brominated congeners. The potential source regions of PBDEs were acknowledged as a combination of long-range transport with short-distance sources.
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