Eleren, Sevil ÇalışkanTaşdemir, Yücel2024-09-262024-09-262022-11-01https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13111938https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/11/1938https://hdl.handle.net/11452/45307Biomonitoring studies have enormous benefits providing a fruitful and cost-efficient means of measuring environmental exposure to toxic chemicals. This study collected ambient air and pine tree components, including needles and 1-year-old and 2-year-old branches, for one year. Concentrations, potential sources and temporal variations of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated. In general, lower concentration levels were observed in the warmer months. Ambient PAHs pose a serious public health threat and impose a need for calculating cancer risks. It was also intended to define the best tree component reflecting the ambient air PAHs. The consideration of the representative tree component minimizes the unnecessary laboratory processes and expenses in biomonitoring studies. The coefficient of divergence (COD), diagnostic ratio (DR) and principal component analysis (PCA) were employed to specify the PAH sources. As a result of the DR and PCA evaluations, the effect of the industrial area has emerged, besides the dominance of the pollutants originating from traffic and combustion. The results have shown that pine needles and branches were mainly affected by similar sources, which also influenced air concentrations. Inhalation cancer risk values were also calculated and they varied between 1.64 x 10(-6) and 3.02 x 10(-5). A potential risk increases in the colder season depending on the ambient air PAH concentrations.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessPolycyclic aromatic-hydrocarbonsMolecular diagnostic ratiosVolatile organic-compoundsUrban atmospheric particulatePositive matrix factorizationPine needlesSource identificationEmission factorsAir-qualitySpatial-distributionPahsSource apportionmentPine treeBranchNeedleHealth risk assessmentScience & technologyLife sciences & biomedicinePhysical sciencesEnvironmental sciencesMeteorology & atmospheric sciencesArticle000894351600001131110.3390/atmos131119382073-4433