Application of Land Use
Regression to Identify Sources
and Assess Spatial Variation in Urban SVOC Concentrations
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Abstract
Land use regression (LUR), a geographic information system
(GIS),
and measured air concentrations were used to identify potential sources
of semivolatile organic contaminants (SVOCs) within an urban/suburban
region, using Toronto, Canada as a case study. Regression results
suggested that air concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs), and polycyclic musks (PCMs) were correlated with sources at
a scale of <5 km. LUR was able to explain 73–90% of the
variability in PCBs and PCMs, and 36–89% of PBDE and PAH variability,
suggesting that the latter have more spatially complex emission sources,
particularly for the lowest and highest molecular weight compounds/congeners.LUR suggested that ∼75% of the PCB air concentration variability
was related to the distribution of PCBs in use/storage/building sealants,
∼60% of PBDE variability was related to building volume, ∼55%
of the PAH variability was related to the distribution of transportation
infrastructure, and ∼65% of the PCM variability was related
to population density. Parameters such as population density and household
income were successfully used as surrogates to infer sources and air
concentrations of SVOCs in Toronto. This is the first application
of LUR methods to explain SVOC concentrations