The concentrations, profiles, sources and spatial distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in 40 surface soil samples collected from Beijing, Tianjin and surrounding areas, North China in 2007, and all sampling sites were far from industrial areas, roadsides and other pollution sources, and across a range of soil types in remote, rural villages and urban areas. The total concentrations of 16 PAHs ranged from 31.6 to 1475.0 ng/g, with an arithmetic average of 336.4 ng/g. The highest PAH concentrations were measured in urban soils, followed by rural village soils and soils from remote locations. The remote-rural village-urban PAH concentration gradient was related to population density, gross domestic product (GDP), long-range atmospheric transport and different types of land use. In addition, the PAH concentration was well correlated with the total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of the soil. The PAH profile suggested that coal combustion and biomass burning were primary PAH sources.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in human have been studied extensively; however, polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) have been studied less widely. The mean concentrations of PCNs, PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs in 61 healthy human volunteers were 2170 pg/g lipid, 452 pg/g lipid, 116 pg/g lipid, and 120 ng/g lipid respectively, and the mean toxic equivalents (TEQs) contributed by PCNs, PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs were 5.88, 5.22, 5.48, and 5.33 pg/g lipid, respectively. PCNs contributed to 26.8% of the total TEQs. 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD, 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF, PCB126, and hepta-CN-73 accounted for >62% of the total TEQs in the human serum samples. The overall serum PCN homologue profiles of all subjects were dominated by tetra- and penta-CN homologues, and the most predominant individual congener was hepta-CN-73, which contributed 17.5% of the total serum PCN concentration. Enrichment of hepta-CN-73 in the human serum samples might be due to contributors from combustion sources.

Two peat bogs from remote alpine sites in Australia were found to contain detailed and coherent histories of atmospheric metal pollution for Pb, Zn, Cu, Mo, Ag, As, Cd, Sb, Zn, In, Cr, Ni, Tl and V. Dramatic increases in metal deposition in the post-1850 AD portion of the cores coincide with the onset of mining in Australia. Using both Pb isotopes and metals, pollutants were ascribed to the main atmospheric pollution emitting sources in Australia, namely mining and smelting, coal combustion and agriculture. Results imply mining and metal production are the major source of atmospheric metal pollution, although coal combustion may account for up to 30% of metal pollutants. A novel finding of this study is the increase in the otherwise near-constant Y/Ho ratio after 1900 AD. We link this change to widespread and increased application of marine phosphate fertiliser in Australia's main agricultural area (the Murray Darling Basin).

Mt. Gongga area in southwest China was impacted by Hg emissions from industrial activities and coal combustion, and annual means of atmospheric TGM and PHg concentrations at a regional background station were 3.98 ng m-3 and 30.7 pg m-3, respectively. This work presents a mass balance study of Hg in an upland forest in this area. Atmospheric deposition was highly elevated in the study area, with the annual mean THg deposition flux of 92.5 μg m-2 yr-1. Total deposition was dominated by dry deposition (71.8%), and wet deposition accounted for the remaining 28.2%. Forest was a large pool of atmospheric Hg, and nearly 76% of the atmospheric input was stored in forest soil. Volatilization and stream outflow were identified as the two major pathways for THg losses from the forest, which yielded mean output fluxes of 14.0 and 8.6 μg m-2 yr-1, respectively.

The temporal distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was examined in dated sediments from five lakes in Western China. The surficial concentrations of seven carcinogenic PAHs (BaA, Chyr, BbF, BkF, BaP, DBA and INP, hereafter denoted as PAH7) were highly site-specific. The ΣPAH7 concentrations generally increased from the deep layers to surface sediments. The temporal trends of ΣPAH7 concentrations were clearly different from those reported in developed countries. From 1950s to 1980s, which PAHs started to decrease in developed countries, is the right period that PAHs started to increase rapidly in Western China. The fluxes and mass inventories suggest that the PAH7 input over the past three decades was much more rapidly than it was before the 1980s. Source identification indicates that the PAHs were primarily from biomass burning and domestic coal combustion, and increasing vehicular and/or industrial coal combustion emission was also found.

Samples of airborne particulate matter (PM₂.₅) were collected at a site in Lahore, Pakistan from November 2005 to January 2006. A total of 129 samples were collected using an Andersen Reference Ambient Air Sampler 2.5-400 sampler and analyzed for major ions, trace metals, and organic and elemental carbon concentrations. The data set was then analyzed by positive matrix factorization (PMF) to identify the possible sources of the atmospheric PM collected in this urban area. Six factors reproduced the PM₂.₅ sample compositions with meaningful physical interpretation of the resolved factors. The sources included secondary PM, diesel emissions, biomass burning, coal combustion, two-stroke vehicle exhaust, and industrial sources. Diesel and two-stroke vehicles contributed about 36%, biomass burning about 15%, and coal combustion sources around 13% of the PM₂.₅ mass. Nearly two thirds of the PM₂.₅ mass is carbonaceous material. Secondary particles contributed about 30% of PM₂.₅ mass. The conditional probability function (CPF) was then used to help identify likely locations of the sources present in this area. CPF analysis point to the east and northeast, which are directions of urban and industrial areas located across the border near Amritsar, India as the most probable source for high PM₂.₅ concentration from diesel and two-stroke vehicles exhaust in Lahore. Analysis of those days within three different ranges of PM₂.₅ concentration shows that most of the measured high PM₂.₅ mass concentrations were driven by diesel and two-stroke vehicle emissions including the associated primary sulfate. The use of the potential source contribution function (PSCF) to find the source locations of regionally transported particles is inapplicable in situations when high PM₂.₅ concentrations are dominated by local sources and local meteorology.

Trace elements, especially those associated with fine particles in airborne particulate matter (PM), may play an important role in PM adverse health effect. The aim of this paper is to characterize elements in a wide particle size range from nano (57-100 nm) to fine (100-1,000 nm) and to coarse (1,000-10,000 nm) fractions of two urban PM samples collected in Ottawa. Size-selective particle sampling was performed using a micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor, and element concentrations were determined in each different size fraction by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy. A general trend of increasing element concentration with decreasing aerodynamic diameter was observed for elements V, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, and Cd, indicating they were predominately concentrated in the nanoparticle size range. Other elements including Fe, Sr, Mo, Sn, Sb, Ba, and Pb were predominately concentrated in the fine-size range. Increased concentration of elements in the nano and fine particle size range is significant due to their ability to penetrate into the deepest alveolar area of the lungs. This was confirmed by the calculation of median concentration diameters, which were less than 800 nm for most of the investigated elements. Particle size distribution and element correlation analysis suggest that the elements concentrated in the nano- and fine-size fractions originated mainly from vehicular combustion and emission. Long-range airborne transport and soil or road dust resuspension may also contribute. Particle size had an important effect on element bioaccessibility for the studied urban PM samples showing a general trend of increasing element bioaccessibility with decreasing particle size. These results emphasize the importance of acquiring information on nano and/or fine PM-bound elements and their bioaccessibilities for accurate element and PM exposure assessment.

Atmospheric and sea sediment concentrations were measured for eight nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (nitro-PAHs) and three unsubstituted PAHs in a suburban area and sea sediments in the Hiroshima Bay watershed area, Japan, from July to December, 2006 (atmospheric particulate matter) and in September and November, 2004 (sea sediments). Atmospheric concentration was higher in winter than summer for both nitro-PAHs and PAHs. Concentrations in sea sediments were less than 10%, and pattern was similar to those of atmospheric particles. Several combustion emission sources were also measured, and the 1-NP/Pyr ratio was compared to environmental values. The ratio of atmospheric and sea sediments were significantly lower than diesel particulate matters. Further, the vehicle emission loading and sea sedimentation loading was evaluated in this watershed area, and from the comparison, the existence of other important sources PAHs were suggested.

A monitoring program of particulate matter was conducted at eight sampling sites in four highly industrialized cities (Shenyang, Anshan, Fushun, and Jinzhou) of Liaoning Province in Northeast China to identify the major potential sources of ambient PM₂.₅. A total of 814 PM₂.₅ and PM₂.₅₋₁₀ samples were collected between 2004 and 2005. All PM samples were collected simultaneously in four cities and analyzed gravimetrically for mass concentrations. A sum of 16 elemental species concentrations in the PM samples were determined using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. Annual means of PM₂.₅ concentrations ranged from 65.0 to 222.0 μg m⁻³ in all the eight sampling sites, and the spatial and seasonal variations were discussed. Enrichment factors were calculated, and Cr, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb will be pollution-derived elements. Site-to-site comparisons of PM₂.₅ species in each city were examined using coefficient of divergence, revealing that the two sites in each city are similar in elemental species. Principle component analysis was used for preliminary source analysis of PM₂.₅. Three or four factors in each city were isolated, and similar sources (crustal source, coal combustion, vehicle exhaust, iron making, or some other metallurgical activities) were identified at four cities.

A study on pH and chemical composition of precipitation was carried out in two Italian sites, one urban (site 1) and one rural (site 2), located approximately 30 km far from Bologna, during a 3-year period. No significative site variation was found. In both locations, bulk deposition pH ranged from slightly acid to slightly alkaline, despite the volume weighted mean concentration of acidic species, NO ₃ ⁻ and SO ₄ ²⁻ (67.4 and 118.4 μeq l⁻¹ in site 1 and 88.7 and 103.8 μeq l⁻¹ in site 2), that were similar to those of typical acidic rainfall region. This might be ascribed to the neutralization reaction of the Ca²⁺, attributed to the calcareous soil and the frequent dusty air mass intrusion from the Sahara. The pair correlation matrix and the analysis of the main components suggested also ammonium and other crustal elements as neutralization agents. The depositional rate of SO ₄ ²⁻ and NO ₃ ⁻ , chemical elements of agricultural interest, amounted to 38 and 28 and 32 and 35 kg ha⁻¹ for site 1 and site 2, respectively. These supplies of nutrient were not negligible and had to be considered on cultivated lands. NH ₄ ⁺ deposition rate on site 2 was 7 kg ha⁻¹, 23% over site 1, probably due to nitrogen fertilization in the fields around the monitoring station. In site 1, SO ₄ ²⁻ presented a seasonal trend, indicating that its principal source was the residential heating. Results emphasized that the entity of the bulk deposition acidification is linked not only to the ions local emission sources (fossil fuel combustions, heating, and fertilizers) but also to the surrounding territory and the prevalent wind that transports through kilometers air masses which may contain acidic and alkaline species.