Concentration, source identification, and exposure risk assessment of PM2.5-bound parent PAHs and nitro-PAHs in atmosphere from typical Chinese cities

Sixteen parent PAHs and twelve nitro-PAHs were measured in PM2.5 samples collected over one year (2013–2014) at nine urban sites in China. During the sampling period, concentrations of individual nitro-PAHs were one or two orders of magnitude lower than their parent PAHs. Typical seasonal variations in parent PAH concentrations, which increased 10- to 80- fold in winter compared to summer, were observed in this study. Conversely, the mean atmospheric concentrations of nitro-PAHs were similar in all four seasons, with the exception of 9-nitroanthracene (9n-Ant). Compared to other nitro-PAHs which were secondary formation products, 9n-Ant had a higher concentration and made up a larger proportion of total nitro-PAHs. Positive matrix factorization results indicated that 9n-Ant sources included biomass burning (20%), vehicle exhaust emissions (43%), and secondary formation (30%). Overall, the elevated concentrations of parent PAHs observed in winter correlated with the contribution from coal combustion at all sites, especially in north China (>80%). The contribution of secondary formation products to total nitro-PAHs was measured during the summer, and was especially high in the larger cities such as Shanghai (84%), Beijing (76%), Guangzhou (60%), and Chengdu (64%), largely due to the summer concentrations of parent PAHs were markedly lower than in winter.