Dispersion and dry and wet deposition of PAHs in an atmospheric environment

The atmospheric concentration and dry and wet deposition were measured for particulate matter (PM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from August to December in Higashi-Hiroshima City, Japan. PM concentration of fine particles (0.6–7 μm) was 5.7–75.1 μg m⁻³, and coarse particles (>7 μm) was 2.2–22.3 μg m⁻³. Total PAHs concentration of fine particles was 0.14–16.3 ng m⁻³, and coarse particles was 0.01–0.77 ng m⁻³. Their concentration increased on non-rainy days and decreased rapidly on rainy days. For seasonal fluctuations of PAHs, their concentrations decreased from summer to winter, and the rate of decrease was more distinct for fine particles. For total (dry+wet) depositions, the PM flux was 1.9–11.2 mg m⁻² d⁻¹, and the total PAHs flux was 1.9–97.2 ng m⁻³ d⁻¹. From these measurements, the yearly total loading of PAHs was estimated for the particle phase. Total loading was 28 μg m⁻² y⁻¹ for the dry deposition and 52 mg m⁻² y⁻¹ for the wet deposition. The loading of the wet deposition was comparable to those of the dry deposition for all ring numbers.