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Abstract: To identify the ambient characteristics of a mega city in Northeast Asia, the particulate PAHs in TSP were measured for 18months at Seoul, the capital of Korea. The average concentration of the ambient particulate PAHs at Seoul for the sampling period was 26.6±28.4ngm−3 with the range from 1.57 to 166ngm−3. It showed winter maxima and summer minimum mainly due to the increased fuel consumption in winter both at Seoul and Northeast Asia. The ambient level of PAHs in Seoul was lower than the cities in China but higher than other urban areas. The stronger relationship between the ambient particulate PAHs concentrations and the inverse of the ambient temperature (1/T) at Seoul compared to Gosan, a background site in Korea and the difference of the distributions of BeP/BaP ratios at Seoul and Gosan might be due to the characteristics of Seoul which was governed by both transport from outside and local emissions. The relationship between the particulate PAHs concentration and (1/T) can be used as an indicator for those two factors for Seoul. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The concentrations of particulate Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured at Gosan, a background site in Korea for 1year between November 2001 and November 2002. The total concentrations of 14 PAH compounds at Gosan were between 0.52 and 14.76 ng m−3 and about 3–15 times higher than those at other rural or remote sites in the world. Seasonal trend was observed for particulate PAHs concentrations at Gosan with higher levels during heating season due to increased fossil fuel usage and the movement of air parcels from Asian continent. Principal component factor analysis (PCF) for PAHs showed three factors; combination of coal combustion and vehicular emission, natural gas combustion, and unidentified one. However, PCF for the combined data of PAHs, inorganic ions, and elements revealed that the unidentified factor consists of crustal species, sea salts, and four PAH compounds. Thus, this factor is thought to be transport of crustal species with organics from combustion sources. The major variables which determine the sources of PAHs are the heating season and the movement of air parcels from Asian continent. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]