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Updated: Dec 3, 2025

Measuring Carbon-based Contaminant Mineralization Using Combined CO2 Flux and Radiocarbon Analyses
Published on: October 21, 2016
Disentangling the contributions of urban and production sources in short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffin
Shan Niu1, Ruiwen Chen2, Kimberly J Hageman2
1Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Utah State University, Logan 84322, USA; National Research Center for Environmental Analysis and Measurement, Beijing 100029, China.
Abstract:
Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs) were measured in tree bark samples. These samples were collected around a chemical industrial park containing several chlorinated paraffin (CP) production plants, in a nearby city (Zhengzhou), and along a transect between the industrial park and city. Theoretical air concentrations were back-calculated from concentrations in bark using a predictive equation for estimating equilibrium bark-air partition coefficients. We developed this equation from a series of previously published Kbark-air measurements. Comparison of the normalized concentration profiles along south to north transects showed that wind played only a minor role in CP concentrations and profiles in the region. Three distinct source profiles were found in the complex source region. A fingerprint analysis technique was used to quantify the contribution of each source to the CP burden at various locations along the transect. We found that CP profiles at sites up to 6 km from the industrial park were strongly influenced by CP plant emissions, whereas the sites located in the rural zone and rural-urban interface were influenced by a mixture of CP plant emissions and the neighboring city.
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