Soil concentrations and soil-air exchange of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in five Asian countries

Wen-Jun Hong; Yi-Fan Li; Wen-Long Li; Hongliang Jia; Nguyen Hung Minh; Ravindra Kumar Sinha; Hyo-Bang Moon; Haruhiko Nakata; Kai Hsien Chi; Kurunthachalam Kannan; Ed Sverko

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135223

Soil concentrations and soil-air exchange of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in five Asian countries

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Apr 1:711:135223. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135223. Epub 2019 Nov 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences, College of Quality and Safety Engineering, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China; International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China. Electronic address: hwj@cjlu.edu.cn.
² IJRC-PTS, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
³ International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China.
⁴ DIOXIN LABORATORY, Center for Environmental Monitoring (CEM), Vietnam Environmental Administration (VEA), 556 Nguyen Van Cu, Long Bien, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.
⁵ IJRC-PTS, Department of Zoology, Patna University, Patna 800 005, Bihar, India.
⁶ IJRC-PTS, Department of Marine Sciences and Convergent Technology, Hanyang University, 55 Hanyangdaehak-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan City, Gyeonggi-do 426-791, Republic of Korea.
⁷ IJRC-PTS, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan.
⁸ Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, National Yang Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
⁹ IJRC-PTS, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Empire State Plaza, P.O. Box 509, Albany, New York 12201-0509, United States.

PMID: 31822410
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135223

Abstract

The Asia Soil and Air Monitoring Program (Asia-SAMP) is a large-scale monitoring program spanning China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and India. 47 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed in 169 concurrently collected surface soil samples across the five study regions. Total PAH concentrations (∑₄₇PAHs) ranged from 13.1 to 7310 ng/g dry weight, with a median value of 272 ng/g dry weight. Higher concentrations of ΣPAHs were recorded in soils from urban areas, followed by soils from rural areas and background soils. Low correlation coefficients were found between PAHs concentrations with population density, surface air temperature and soil organic content. A trend of depleting high molecular weight PAHs and enrichment of low molecular weight PAHs occurred from east to west in Chinese soils. Based on atmospheric PAHs detected in almost the same sampling sites, the equilibrium status of PAHs in the atmosphere and on the ground was investigated. Sample sites with a soil-air equilibrium status for different PAH congeners recorded differences, and differences were recorded between seasons. 2-ring PAHs were mainly volatilized, and 5- & 6-ring PAHs were mainly deposited in all seasons and across all study regions. 3- & 4-ring PAHs were more affected by soil-air transfer, showing a tendency to accumulate in soils in cold regions/seasons and to be re-volatilized into the atmosphere in warm regions/seasons. Partitioning and exchange of PAHs among soil and air were significantly affected by the air temperature.

Keywords: Fractionation; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Soil; Soil-air exchange.