Identification and source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air particulate matter of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2014
El-Mubarak, Aarif H. | Rushdi, Ahmed I. | Al-Mutlaq, Khalid F. | Bazeyad, Abdulqader Y. | Simonich, Staci L. M. | Simoneit, Bernd R. T.
In an effort to assess the occurrence and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the ambient air of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, PM₁₀samples were collected during December 2010. Diagnostic PAH concentration ratios were used as a tool to identify and characterize the PAH sources. The results reflect high PM₁₀and PAH concentrations (particulate matter (PM) = 270–1,270 μg/m³). The corresponding average PAH concentrations were in the range of 18 ± 8 to 1,003 ± 597 ng/m³and the total concentrations (total PAHs (TPAHs) of 17 compounds) varied from 1,383 to 13,470 ng/m³with an average of 5,871 ± 2,830 ng/m³. The detection and quantification limits were 1–3 and 1–10 ng/ml, respectively, with a recovery range of 42–80 %. The ratio of the sum of the concentrations of the nine major non-alkylated compounds to the total (CPAHs/TPAHs) was 0.87 ± 0.10, and other ratios were determined to apportion the PM sources. The PAHs found are characteristic for emissions from traffic with diesel being a predominant source.
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