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To obtain a comprehensive understanding about that occurrence, sources, and effects on human health of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in road environmental samples from Harbin, concentrations of 32 PAHs in road dust, green belt soil, and parking lot dust samples were quantified. The total PAH concentrations ranged from 0.95 to 40.7 μg/g and 0.39 to 43.9 μg/g in road dust and green belt soil, respectively, and were dominated by high molecular weight PAHs (HMW-PAHs). Despite the content of PAHs in arterial roads being higher, the composition profile of PAHs was hardly influenced by road types. For parking lot dust, the range of total PAH concentrations was 0.81–190 μg/g, and three-ring to five-ring PAHs produced the maximum contribution. Compared with surface parking lots (mean: 6.12 μg/g), higher total PAH concentrations were detected in underground parking lots (mean: 33.1 μg/g). The diagnostic ratios of PAHs showed that petroleum, petroleum combustion, and biomass/coal combustion were major sources of PAHs in the samples. Furthermore, according to the Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk model, the cancer risks of three kinds of samples for adults and children were above the threshold (10−6). Overall, this study demonstrated that PAHs in the road environment of Harbin have a certain health impact on local citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and 16 novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) were measured in air and dust samples collected in a test home in Harbin, China, from January 2017 to June 2018. The PBDE and NBFR concentrations in indoor air were in the ranges of 0.598–14.5 pg m−3 and 9.28–686 pg m−3, respectively. The ranges of the PBDE and NBFR concentrations in indoor dust were 221–1060 ng g−1 and 71.9–1160 ng g−1, respectively. Brominated flame retardant (BFR) concentrations in indoor air were affected by the temperature, relative humidity (RH), and ventilation. The BFR concentrations in indoor dust did not show temperature dependence. All dust samples were sieved into 6 size fractions (F1–F6: 1000–2000 μm, 500–1000 μm, 250–500 μm, 125–250 μm, 63–125 μm, and < 63 μm). The mass percentage of BFRs in F6 was the highest. The BFR concentrations did not increase constantly with a particle size decrease, and the concentrations in F2 were higher than those in F3. The partitioning behavior of BFRs illustrates that the dust-air partitioning coefficient approximately approached equilibrium within F5, F6, and the total dust fraction (FA) in the test home when logKOA was between 9.1 and 11.32. Air-dust fugacity fractions were calculated, and the results suggested that most of the BFRs were mainly transferred from air to dust in the indoor environment for F1–F6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is considered to be an important medium for the transport and transformation of organic pollutants. This study attempted to comprehensively investigate polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) in a WWTP in Harbin, one of the main 'Old Industrial Base' in China. The mean concentrations of the total PBDEs in the influent, effluent, and sludge were 152 ng/L, 16.2 ng/L, and 503 g/g dw, respectively, which were at the low end of the global range. BDE-209 was the most abundant congener, with contributions to the total PBDE ranging from 90.5 to 98.5 %. The level of the total NBFRs ranged from 24.5 to 107 ng/L, 0.95 to 20.3 ng/L, and 305 to 1202 ng/g dw in the influent, effluent, and sludge, respectively. For NBFRs, DBDPE was the most abundant congener (38.8-50.5 %), followed by BEHTBP (11.0-35.0 %). The ratio for DBDPE/BDE-209 (0.62 ± 0.42) was found less than 1 in sludge, which indicated that Deca-BDE is still the major BFR product in this city. Source identification suggested that indoor dust should be an important source of BFRs in the WWTP. Approximately 20.8 and 7.79 kg of PBDEs and NBFRs on annual basis were removed with the sludge. Biodegradation could play an important role on the fate of BFRs in the WWTP, which is required for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the analysis ability of residue levels of persistent toxic substances (PTS) in environment, this paper investigated the distribution characteristics of air concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during the Spring of 2007 (January to April) in 4 different functional areas (urban, suburban, rural, and remote areas) in and near the Haring metropolitan by using the fuzzy C -means clustering algorithm, and got the cluster centers of different samples and a membership matrix which offered quantity foundation for analysis of samples description. Results showed that the contamination level in the urban industrial area was the highest, followed by those in the other urban places and rural area, and the contamination levels in the remote area and in the places on the windward were the lowest. PAHs in Harbin urban atmospheric were mainly from coal - burning and industrial emissions, those in rural areas were mainly from the burning of crop stalks. PAHs in air in this region have imposed a potential threat on human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method for the determination of Dechlorane 602 (Dec 602), Dechlorane 603 (Dec 603), D chlorane 604 (Dec 604) and Dechlorane Plus (DP) in wastewater by gas chromatography-negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry (GC - NCI/MS) has been developed. The water sample was extracted by classical liquid-liquid extraction method to collect the Dechloranes from both particle phase and water phase, cleaned up using silica gel and then analyzed by GC-NCI/MS under the optimized conditions of 150 °C source temperature, 150 °C quadrupole temperature, 280 °C initial temperature and 1 kV electron multiplier (E offset voltage. The quantitation limits of Dec 602, Dee 603, Dec 604 and DP were 0.01 -0. 1 ng · L-. The correlation coefficients were above 0.99 for the calibration curves. The validity of this method was demonstrated by determination of Dechloranes in wastewater of a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Harbin, China. The results indicate that the recovery rates of all Deehloranes in wastewater are 74% - 122% , the relative standard deviations (DBS are less than 13.2%. The concentrations of Dechloranes in influent and effluent are 3.2 ng · L-and 0.19 ng · L--1, respectively. Dechloranes are dominanted by DP in wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the concentrations and seasonal changes of sediment PCBs from 14 site points were characterized. 57 PCBs homologs were detected totally. The concentrations of Σ PCBs ranged from 1.0 x 1010 to 1.15 x 10 and the average percentage was 1.91 x 10-9, which showed a little seasonal changes. The ecological risk assessment was carried out and the same risk results were obtained with two methods: Ha- kanson ecological risk index and Canadian sediment quality guidelines (SQG). It is found that the ecological risk ranks in all target sites are all below the high ecological hazard. The risk value of Songyuan belongs to the middle ecological hazard in spring and the risk of the rest of the target sites belongs to the light ecological hazard in different seasons. The order of the top five risk sites is as follows : Songyuan > downriver Jiamusi > Fujin > downriver Harbin > upriver Harbin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in 17 topsoil samples collected in and around the city of Harbin, an industrial center in Northeast China for decades, are presented. Total concentrations (ng/g dry weight [dw]) ranged from 17 to 3,260 (mean: 508) for PAHs and 0.30 to 6.17 (mean: 1.63) for PCBs. As expected, large differences of the concentration levels of PAHs and PCBs in topsoil were found among the samples from urban, suburban, and background/rural sites. Total PCB and PAH concentrations were higher in industrialized areas than those at the other sites, with a ratio of up to one order of magnitude, possibly indicating the urban source of these chemicals. The PAH profiles were similar among samples, with high percentages of high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs and domination of four-ring PAHs. Compositions of PCB homologues showed that tri-CBs and tetra-CBs were abundant in all soil samples. There was also a higher abundance of low molecular weight (LMW) PCBs and lower abundance of HMW PCBs at background sites than other areas, indicating the urban fractionation phenomenon. Pyrogenic origins were the dominant PAH sources in surface soil at most urban sites, whereas petrogenic origins were the major PAH sources in surface soil at all the rural and background sites. The TEQ concentrations (pg/g dw) of all four dioxin-like PCBs (CBs 77, 81, 105, and 118) were 0.009 for humans and mammals, 0.005 for fish, and 1.42 for birds. Strong correlations were found between PAH and PCB concentrations and soil organic matter and, also, between PAH and PCB concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of pesticides have been widely manufactured and applied, and are released into the environment with negative impact on human health. Pesticides are largely used in densely populated urban environments, in green zones, along roads and on private properties. In order to characterize the potential exposure related health effects of pesticide and their occurrence in the urban environment, 222 pesticides were screened and quantified in 228 road dust and 156 green-belt soil samples in autumn and spring from Harbin, a megacity in China, using GC-MS/MS base quantitative trace analysis. The results showed that a total of 33 pesticides were detected in road dust and green-belt soil, with the total concentrations of 650 and 236 ng/g (dry weight = dw), respectively. The concentrations of pesticides in road dust were significantly higher than that in green-belt soil. Pesticides in the environment were influenced by the seasons, with the highest concentrations of insecticides in autumn and the highest levels of herbicides in spring. In road dust, the concentrations of highways in autumn and spring (with the mean values of 94.1 and 68.2 ng/g dw) were much lower than that of the other road classes (arterial roads, sub-arterial roads and branch ways). Whereas in the green-belt soil, there was no significant difference in the concentration of pesticides between the different road classes. A first risk assessment was conducted to evaluate the potential adverse health effects of the pesticides, the results showed that the highest hazard index (HI) for a single pesticide in dust and soil was 0.12, the hazard index for children was higher than that for adults, with an overall hazard index of less than 1. Our results indicated that pesticide levels do not have a significant health impact on people. [Display omitted] • 33 pesticides were detected in road dust and green-belt soil in autumn and spring. • The concentration of pesticides in road dust was higher than in green-belt soil. • Compared to road classes, seasons had a more significant effect on concentrations. • The highest hazard index of pesticides was below 1, indicating a safety threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aniline antioxidants (ANs) are widely used as industrial chemicals in products composed of rubber. ANs originate mainly from vehicles, where tire wear particles end up in dust and soil after being deposited on roads. Nowadays, limited information is available on the fate and seasonal variation of ANs in the road environment. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of 32 ANs in dust and soil from different road environments, including road dust, garage dust, parking lot dust, and green-belt soil. The total concentrations of ANs were 369 ng g−1 in road dust, 712 ng g−1 in garage dust, and 687 ng g−1 in parking lot dust. These concentrations are several times higher than that in green-belt soil (128 ng g−1). The highest concentrations of N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N′-phenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine (6PPD) were found in dust and soil. Furthermore, notable seasonal differences were observed, with significantly higher concentrations of ANs in autumn than those in spring. In the main urban area, roads with high traffic volume exhibited higher concentrations of ANs than those with low traffic volume, indicating that ANs were produced by vehicle-related sources. [Display omitted] • ANs detected in road dust, parking lot dust, garage dust and green-belt soil. • 6PPD had the highest concentration among the ANs detected in dust and soil. • Dust samples showed higher concentrations of ANs than soil. • Concentrations of ANs are closely related to traffic volumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The floating catkins generated by willow and poplar trees have been criticized for spreading germ and causing fire for decades. It has been found that catkins are with a hollow tubular structure, which made us wonder if the floating catkins can adsorb atmospheric pollutions. Thus, we conducted a project in Harbin, China to investigate whether and how willow catkins could adsorb atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The results suggest that both the catkins floating in the air and on the ground preferred to adsorb gaseous PAHs rather than particulate PAHs. Moreover, 3- and 4-ring PAHs were the dominating compositions adsorbed by catkins, which significantly increased with exposure time. The gas/catkins partition (K CG) was defined, which explained why 3-ring PAHs are more easily adsorbed by catkins than by airborne particles when their subcooled liquid vapor pressure is high (log P L > −1.73). The removal loading of atmospheric PAHs by catkins were estimated as 1.03 kg/year in the center city of Harbin, which may well explain the phenomenon that levels of gaseous and total (particle + gas) PAHs are relatively low in the months with catkins floating reported in peer-reviewed papers. [Display omitted] • The natural floating catkins could remove atmospheric PAHs. • Catkins prefer to adsorb gaseous PAHs rather than particulate PAHs. • Adsorbing ability of catkins to low-rings PAHs was higher than airborne particles. • Atmospheric level of PAHs declined during the catkin-floating season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor window films can represent short-term air pollution conditions of indoor environment through rapidly capturing organic contaminants as effective passive air samplers. To investigate the temporal variation, influence factors of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in indoor window films, and the exchange behavior with gas phase in college dormitories, 42 pairs window films of interior and exterior window surfaces and corresponding indoor gas phase and dust samples were collected monthly in six selected dormitories, Harbin, China, from August to December 2019 and September 2020. The average concentration of ∑ 16 PAHs in indoor window films (398 ng/m2) was significantly (p < 0.01) lower than that in outdoors (652 ng/m2). In addition, the median indoor/outdoor ∑ 16 PAHs concentration ratio was close to 0.5, showing that outdoor air acted as a major PAH source to indoor environment. The 5-ring PAHs were mostly dominant in window films whereas the 3-ring PAHs contributed mostly in gas phase. 3-ring PAHs and 4-ring PAHs were both important contributors for dormitory dust. Window films showed stable temporal variation, i.e. PAH concentrations in heating months were higher than those in non-heating months. The atmospheric O 3 concentration was the main influence factor of PAHs in indoor window films. PAHs with low molecular weight in indoor window films rapidly reached film/air equilibrium phase within in dozens of hours. The large deviation in the slope of the log K F-A versus log K OA regression line from that in reported equilibrium formula might be the difference between the window film composition and octanol. [Display omitted] • Elevated heavy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) accumulation in indoor films. • PAHs in films and gas phase showed similar temporal variation affected by heating. • Light PAHs rapidly reached indoor film/air equilibrium phase within dozens of hours. • Deviation in slope of regression line with film/air equilibrium formula was explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant decline with primary air pollutants has occurred in China since 2013, benefiting from the Clean Air Action. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as ubiquitous organic pollutants in atmosphere, could also be influenced by the Action. However, related studies are limited in China. In this study, atmospheric PAHs in Harbin from June 2014 to May 2019 were monitored to evaluate the influence of the Action. During this period, significant decreasing trends of Σ 15 PAHs in the atmosphere were observed. The half-lives for Σ 15 PAHs in the total phase, gas phase, and particle phase were 3.23 ± 0.370, 2.94 ± 0.295, and 4.27 ± 0.666 years, respectively. These half-lives are shorter than those observed in other long-term monitoring programs worldwide. Furthermore, a stepwise multiple linear regression model used for primary air pollutants was applied to quantify the meteorological contribution to the decreasing trends of atmospheric PAHs. The results indicated that 35% of the decrease could be attributable to meteorological factors. In other words, the Action implementation in Harbin was proved to be the major reason for reducing atmospheric PAHs. In summary, the results observed in the present study demonstrated the effectiveness of the Clean Air Action, not only for decreasing primary air pollutants but also for atmospheric PAHs, which provides new insights into future clean air policies in China and other countries. [Display omitted] • Atmospheric PAHs were studied in Harbin from June 2014 to May 2019. • Significant decreasing trends of Σ 15 PAHs in atmosphere were observed. • The half-life of Σ 15 PAHs in atmosphere was 3.23 ± 0.370 years. • The result indicated 35% decrease of PAHs was attributable to meteorological factors. • The Clean Air Action was effective for the decrease of atmospheric PAHs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• New equation is developed to predict the G/P partition quotients of PBDEs in size-segregated particles. • The predicted results match monitoring well. • f OMi is the leading factor controlling the deviation of K Pi from K P. • The new equation can help to predict healthy exposure dose of airborne PBDEs. Gas/particle (G/P) partition quotients of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) for bulk air have been widely discussed in experimental and theoretical contexts, but research on size-resolved G/P partition quotients (K Pi) are scarce and limited in scope. To investigate G/P partition behavior of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) for size-segregated particles in the atmosphere, 396 individual size-segregated particulate samples (36 batches × 11 size-ranges), and 108 pairs of concurrent gaseous and bulk particulate samples were collected in Harbin, China. A steady-state equation based on bulk particles is derived to determine G/P partition quotients of PBDEs for size-segregated particles, which depends on the organic matter contents of size-segregated particles (f OMi). This equation can well predict K Pi with knowledge of bulk partition quotient (K PS), ambient temperature, and f OMi , the results of which match well with monitoring data in Harbin and other published data collected in Shanghai and Guangzhou of China and Thessaloniki of Greece, and remedies a defect of over-estimate K Pi for high-brominated PBDEs by the previous equation. In particular, the new equation contributes to obtaining the PBDEs concentrations in all atmospheric phase from partial phase, then provides a credible path to evaluate healthy exposure dose from the airborne PBDEs, by co-utilization with exposure models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human exposure to formaldehyde, toluene, xylene (FTX) and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are associated with negative health impact. To characterize the exposure and health effects of FTX and TVOC from indoor environments, we conducted an extensive monitoring campaign involving 1278 measurements of 472 indoor locations in Harbin, a megacity in China from May 2013 to March 2018. The results showed that household had the highest mean formaldehyde concentration (0.171 ± 0.084 mg m-3) among all types of indoor environments. Meanwhile, there was no significant differences in formaldehyde concentration of the living room, master bedroom, secondary bedroom and study room (p > 0.05), as well as toluene and xylene. The highest mean concentration of toluene, xylene and TVOC was measured in public bath center. Great difference was found between formaldehyde concentrations in 2013 and other years, except 2015. There were great positive nonlinear correlations between the indoor temperature and concentration of formaldehyde (p < 0.01), good negative nonlinear correlations between the finish time of decoration and concentration of formaldehyde (p < 0.01), good positive linear correlations between the relative humidity and concentration of formaldehyde (p < 0.01). A risk assessment methodology was utilized to evaluate the potential adverse health effects of the individual FTX compounds according to their carcinogenicities. The predicted carcinogenic risk of formaldehyde was greater than the threshold value 1E-06 at all environments. The non-carcinogenic risk of TX compounds in the population is negligible. For estimating human health risk exposure, sensitivity analysis showed that more attention should be given to the influential variables such as the level of pollutants. • SConducted an extensive monitoring campaign in Harbin, from May 2013 to March 2018. • There were correlations between the indoor temperature, relative humidity, finish time of decoration and concentration of formaldehyde. • The predicted carcinogenic risk of formaldehyde was greater than the threshold value at all microenvironments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterizing levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in snow and their toxicity is important for understanding snow scavenging of PAHs and associated human health and environmental risks in cold regions. A total of 48 fresh snow samples were collected from six precipitation events during the winter of 2014–2015 at eight (5 urban, 2 suburban and 1 rural) sites across the heavily industrialized and agricultural city of Harbin in northeast China, and were analyzed for the USEPA priority 16 PAHs. Concentrations of the sum of the 16 PAHs from individual snow samples ranged from 0.3 to 2549.6 μg L−1 or nearly four orders of magnitude. The arithmetic mean concentration (±standard deviation) of the 48 samples was 218.1 ± 623.7 μg L−1, and the median value was 10.7 μg L−1. The most abundant PAHs averaged from all the samples were Pyrene (17.1%), followed by Phenanthrene (14.9%), Naphthalene (14.4%), and Fluoranthene (10.2%). The important carcinogenic ∑ 7 PAH s accounted for 58.4% of the total PAHs at locations directly impacted by road traffic. Source apportionment analysis using diagnostic ratios coupled with principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that coal and biomass combustion and vehicle exhausts are the major sources of PAHs in winter. Concentrations of PAHs in snow were significantly correlated with measured levels of PAHs in airborne particulate matter (PM 2.5 (R = 0.857, p < 0.05); PM 10 (R = 0.831, p < 0.05)), as well as with ambient temperature (R = −0.851, p < 0.05). Almost all (99%) of PAHs measured in the snow were present in particulate phase. The practice of clearing snow by removing it from urban areas and disposing it in suburban and rural areas may create a new pathway of exposure, which needs to be assessed further. Image 1 • Spatial distributions of snow concentration of PAHs across a city were determined. • Wet deposition of PAHs from snow scavenging ranged from 1.5 to 433.1 μg m−2. • Major sources for PAHs were from coal, biomass combustion and vehicle exhaust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]