Seasonal Variability of PM10 Chemical Composition Including 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene, Marker of Plastic Combustion and Toxicity in Wadowice, South Poland

ABSTRACT The objective of this research was to evaluate the seasonal variation of the chemical composition of PM10 including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene (135TPB), which is a well known marker of plastic combustion. The presented work is a part of the project concerning assessment of air quality of small cities around Krakow agglomeration. Monitoring campaign was conducted between February and October 2017 in Wadowice, a small city in Krakow agglomeration, South Poland. To widen the knowledge of Krakow's agglomeration air quality, other aerosol chemical components were analyzed. Ion chromatography (IC) was used for analysis of cations and anions, while gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used for PAHs. Samples were also analyzed for OC/EC (organic/elemental carbon) by thermal-optical analysis with a Sunset Laboratory carbon analyzer, Sunset Inc. The co-combustion of plastic in addition to conventional fuels and the respective impact on air quality is evaluated via the concentration of the marker compound 135TPB. Co-combustion of plastics with fuels resulted in a higher abundance of fluorene and most of 4–6 ring PAHs, in agreement with recent literature. Authors proved that other sources besides plastic burning, including road transport, residential heating, residential combustion, industrial emissions, affect the air quality in South Poland. The modeling tool Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT), developed by NOAA's Air Resources Laboratory, was used to define the possible areas outside Wadowice contributing to urban air pollution

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) associated with PM10 collected in Wadowice, South Poland

Krakow is a city in southern Poland inhabited by about 741,000 people. However, Krakow’s agglomeration includes neighboring cities, hence more than 1 million people live there. The agglomeration is struggling with the problem of air pollution. In 2016, admissible average annual concentrations of PM10 (40 μg / m3) were exceeded at all measuring points. Furthermore, daily PM10 concentrations were regularly exceeded in the winter, which is associated with increased coal combustion during this period. Fortunately, interest in the subject of air quality in the world is constantly growing. People are more often aware of the negative impact on health of chemical compounds present in particulate matter (PM) such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), which were proved to be cancerogenic and mutagenic for people. That is why it is so important to study their presence in the ambient air. PM10 collected in the center of Wadowice (22.12.2016 – 13.10.2017) were investigated. PAHs were extracted from particulate matter and analysed applying the GC/MS technique. The results are discussed in the article