Concentration characteristics of atmospheric PCBs for urban and rural area, Korea

Mean concentrations of total PCBs (gas+particle) detected in urban and rural atmospheres were 130.41+/-62.57 pg/m(3) and 39.65+/-34.04 pg/m(3), respectively. The concentration distribution of PCB homologs in the urban and rural area decreased with increasing Cl substitutions and showed significant correlation coefficients (P>0.05) with the octanol-air partition coefficient (K(OA)) and vapor pressure, respectively. The fractions (%) of total PCBs were 28% for tri-CBs, 25% for tetra-CBs and 24% for penta-CBs in urban air and 45% for tri-CBs, 24% for tetra-CBs, and 21% for penta-CBs in rural air. The sum of those homologs was 77% for urban and 90% for rural air. Therefore, these homologs were identified as the main components of PCB homologs compared to other homologs (>penta-CBs). The Clausius-Clapeyron (CC) plot was applied to atmospheric PCB data, relating PCB partial vapor pressure (logarithm P) to inverse absolute temperature (1/T). The slopes obtained from Clausius-Clapeyron plots were -3888 (R(2)=0.75, P<0.0001) for urban and -1902 (R(2)=0.22, P<0.1) for rural air. The slope for urban air was approximately two times higher than that of rural air, possibly because the atmospheric concentration of lower molecular weight congeners in urban air may be predominantly influenced by local sources relative to rural air.