Title: Characteristics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fresh snow in the Changping district, Beijing

Authors: Yun-Yang Wan; Jia-Jia Fei; Yi Zhang; Shuang-Xin Shi; Liang Dong; Zhi-Huan Zhang

Addresses: State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, Beijing Key Laboratory of Petroleum Pollution and Control, Research Centre for Geomicrobial Resources and Application, Institute of Unconventional Oil and Gas Science and Technology, College of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China ' State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, Beijing Key Laboratory of Petroleum Pollution and Control, Research Centre for Geomicrobial Resources and Application, Institute of Unconventional Oil and Gas Science and Technology, College of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China ' China Huadian Green Energy Co. Ltd., Beijing 100160, China ' State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Dioxin Pollution Control, National Research Center for Environmental Analysis and Measurement, Beijing 100029, China ' State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Dioxin Pollution Control, National Research Center for Environmental Analysis and Measurement, Beijing 100029, China ' State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, Beijing Key Laboratory of Petroleum Pollution and Control, Research Centre for Geomicrobial Resources and Application, Institute of Unconventional Oil and Gas Science and Technology, College of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China

Abstract: To investigate the characteristics of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the heavy snow in the Changping district, Beijing, China, we collected seven subsamples from three sample snow locations, namely, along roadsides, in parks, and in a mountain area. We pretreated the samples by liquid-liquid extraction after melting, and the total PAHs contents were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry as 4281.9 ng·L^-1, 731.0 ng·L^-1, and 88.2 ng·L^-1 in the three locations, respectively. The highest PAH benzo[b]fluoranthene content reached 695.4 ng·L^-1. The contents of PAHs with four to five rings were the highest, decreasing followed by PAHs with three and six rings and those with two rings. The PAHs of snow in Changping originated mainly from biomass and coal combustion processes. Most individual PAH concentrations based on the potential ecological risk assessment were at a moderate- or high-risk level, whereas the total PAHs concentrations were at a high-risk level.

Keywords: PAHs; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; snowfall; ecological risk assessment; pollution source; combustion; incineration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2021.126978

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2021 Vol.69 No.3/4, pp.277 - 304

Accepted: 03 May 2022
Published online: 15 Nov 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article