Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 14, 2026

Measuring Sub-23 Nanometer Real Driving Particle Number Emissions Using the Portable DownToTen Sampling System
Published on: May 22, 2020
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in particulates emitted by motorcycles
Chau Thuy Pham1, Takayuki Kameda, Akira Toriba
1Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan.
Abstract:
We determined eleven PAHs and four NPAHs in particulates and regulated pollutants (CO, CO2, HC, NOx, PM) exhausted from motorcycles to figure out the characteristics of motorcycle exhausts. Fluoranthene and pyrene accounted for more than 50% of the total detected PAHs. Among four detected NPAHs, 6-nitrochrysene and 7-nitrobenz[a]anthracene were the predominant NPAHs and were highly correlated relationship with their parent PAHs (R = 0.93 and 0.97, respectively). The PM and HC emissions tended to be close to the PAH emissions. NOx and NPAHs were negatively correlated. Despite their small engine size, motorcycles emitted much more PM and PAHs, showed stronger PAH-related carcinogenicity and indirect-acting mutagenicity, but weaker NPAH-related direct-acting mutagenic potency than automobiles. This is the first study to analyze both PAHs and NPAHs emitted by motorcycles, which could provide useful information to design the emission regulations and standards for motorcycles such as PM.
Related Concept Videos
Aromatic Compounds: Overview
In 1825, Faraday isolated benzene...
Gas Chromatography: Types of Detectors-II
Five-Membered Heterocyclic Aromatic Compounds: Overview
Aromatic Hydrocarbon Anions: Structural Overview
Due to the absence of continuous overlap of p...
Criteria for Aromaticity and the Hückel 4n + 2 Rule
For the first time, Eric Hückel, a German chemical physicist, derived a set of structural features for a compound to be classified as aromatic. This is now known as Hückel’s rule or the 4n + 2 rule.
NMR Spectroscopy of Aromatic Compounds

