Atmospheric size distribution of PAHs: evidence of a high-volume sampling artifact

The purpose of this study was to characterize atmospheric levels of four- to six-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the vicinity of a horizontal stud Söderberg aluminum smelter in terms of the size distribution of particulate matter (September to December 2002). It was found that the vast majority of the PAHs was associated with particle diameters less than 1 and 3 microm. A profile comparison of the PAH mixture--using benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) relative abundance ratios (PAH/B[a]P)--for the cascade impactor filters indicated the formation of a sampling artifact. Overall, the PAH stability scale generated in this study agrees with those produced experimentally for ozone and nitrogen dioxides or developed using other in situ measurement techniques. Correlations of the four- to six-ring PAHs with other atmospheric variables suggested that smelter plume conditions and particle characteristics may play a potentially important role in the overall PAH reactivity. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report a sampling artifact for the four- to six-ring PAHs during in situ high volume sampling under real world conditions.