Characterization of gas/particle concentrations and partitioning of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) measured in an urban site of Turkey

Abstract

Air concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in both gas and particle phases were measured in an urban site (BUTAL-Merinos) of the city of Bursa, Turkey between August 2004 and May 2005. The mean of total (particle + gas) PCB concentrations was about 491.8 +/- 189.4 pg/m(3). The main contributors for PCBs in the sampling site were the local sources and long-range atmospheric transport supported by back trajectory analysis. Lower molecular weight PCB congeners generally dominated in the samples. The particle phase of the measured PCBs accounted for 15% of the total PCB concentrations. Gas/particle distribution was investigated using different approaches such as log K-p-log P-L(o), log K-p -log K-OA and the Junge-Pankow model. Regression analysis among log K-p, log P-L(o) and log K-OA exhibited significant correlation at p < 0.05. Correlation between PCB homologs and meteorological parameters was formed to investigate the possible relationships.