Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Atmospheric Particulate Matters (PM2.5) in Urban and Rural Areas of Bangladesh
Md. Shohel Rana*, Most Rayhana Rahman, K.M. Fayek Itteshaf Rownok Md Atiar Rahman, Md. Jamiul Kabir, Mahbuba Begum, Md Mahbubul Haque, M. S. Rhaman and Yeasmin Nahar Jolly
Chemistry Division, Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka, 4 Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Shahbag, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
*Corresponding author
Abstract:
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) also known as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons are stable organic organic pollutants that have carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic properties. Due to these properties as well as their persistence in the environment, they have been placed on the priority pollutants list by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) and European Environment Agency. These compounds are semi-volatile organic compound (SVOCs) that could be distributed in the various environmental samples and maybe deposited in the air particulate matters which could be transported over transboundary regions. This study deals with the determination of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the atmospheric particulate matters (PM2.5) in the heavily polluted mega city and rural areas in Bangladesh. Aerosol particulate matters (PM2.5) were collected with high volume air sampler, Environtech (Model APM 550) on Quartz filters and later PAHs compounds were extracted using established method. The average concentration of PM2.5 in the urban and rural areas were 234.5±56.6 μgm-3 and 82.5±19.6μgm-3 respectively. The average concentration of PAHs pollutants, Naphthalene, Phenanthrene, Anthracene, Flourene were found 0.46±0.23 ngm-3, 0.70±0.37 ngm-3, 0.73 ± 0.40 ngm-3, 0.55 ± 0.55 ngm-3 in the urban area. Fluoranthene, Pyrene, Benzo(a)Pyrene, Benzo(e)Pyrene, Perylene, Chrysene were below detection limit in the urban area. The average concentration of Naphthalene was 0.033 ngm-3 in the rural area in Bangladesh. Phenanthrene, Anthracene, Flourene, Chrysene, Fluoranthene, Benzo(a)pyrene, pyrene were below detection limit in the rural area. Different multivariate techniques like Pearson’s correlation and diagnostic ratios were applied to identify the possible sources of PAHs emission.
Keywords: Atmospheric particulate matters (PM2.5), polycyclic aromatic hydro carbons (PAHs), Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), correlation
References:
- Cai, S. S.; Syage, J. A.; Hanold, K. A.; Balogh, M. P. Ultra performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure photoionization-tandem mass spectrometry for high-sensitivity and high- throughput analysis of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 16 priority pollutants polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. Chem. 2009, 81, 2123–2128.
- Mao, S.; Li, J.; Cheng, Z.; Zhong, G.; Li, K.; Liu, X.; Zhang, G. Contribution of biomass burning to ambient particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at a regional background site in East China. Environ. Sci.Technol. Lett. 2018, 5, 56−61.
- Hawthorne, S. B.; Poppendieck, D. G.; Grabanski, C. B.; Loehr, R. C. Comparing PAH availability from manufactured gas plant soils and sediments with chemical and biological tests. 1. PAH release during waterdesorption and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2002, 36, 4795−4803.
- Zolotov, M. Y.; Shock, E. L. A thermodynamic assessment of the potential synthesis of condensedhydrocarbons during cooling and dilution of volcanic gases. J. Geophys. Res. 2000, 105, 539−559.
- Cabrerizo, A.; Galba?n-Malago?n, C.; Del Vento, S.; Dachs, J. Sources and fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean atmosphere. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 2014, 28, 1424−1436.
- Ma, Y.; Xie, Z.; Yang, H.; Mo?ller, A.; Halsall, C.; Cai, M.; Sturm, R.; Ebinghaus, R. Deposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the North Pacific and the Arctic. J. Geophys. Res. 2013, 118, 5822− 5829.
- Cabrerizo, A.; Dachs, J.; Barcelo?, D.; Jones, K. C. Influence of organic matter content and human activities on the occurrence of organic pollutants in Antarctic soils, lichens, grass, and mosses. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2012, 46, 1396−1405.
- Zheng, H.; Cai, M.; Zhao, W.; Khairy, M.; Chen, M.; Deng, H.; Lohmann, R. Net volatilization of PAHs from the North Pacific to the Arctic Ocean observed by passive sampling. Environ. Pollut. 2021, 276, No. 116728.
- Kim, K. H.; Jahan, S. A.; Kabir, E.; Brown, R. J. C. A review of airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their human health effects. Environ. Int. 2013, 60, 71−80.
- Lemieux, C. L.; Long, A. S.; Lambert, I. B.; Lundstedt, S.; Tysklind, M.; White, P. A. Cancer risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contaminated soils determined using bioassay- derived levels of benzo(a)pyrene equivalents. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2015, 49, 1797−1805.
- World Health Organization. Ambient air pollution: A global assessment of exposure and burden of disease. World Health Organization, 2016.
- World Health Organization. Health Effects of Particulate Matter: Policy implications for countries in Eastern Europe. Caucasus and central Asia. World Health Organization, 2013.
- Durant, J. L.; Busby, W. F., Jr; Lafleur, A. L.; Penman, B. W.; Crespi, C. L. Human cell mutagenicity of oxygenated, nitrated and unsubstituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with urban aerosols. Mutat. Res., Genet. Toxicol. Test. 1996, 371 (3−4), 123−157.
- S. Pedersen, J. Ingwersen, T. Nielsen and E. Larsen, Effects of fuel, lubricant, and engine operating parame- ters on the emission of polycyclic aromatic hydrocar- bons. Environ. Sci. Technol., 14 (1980) 71-79.
- Westerholm, U. Stenberg and T. Alsberg, Some as- pects of the distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocar- bons (PAH) between particles and gas phase from diluted gasoline exhausts generated with the use of a dilution tunnel, and it’s validity for measurement in ambient air. Atmos. Environ., 22 (1988) 1005-1010.
- F. Rogge, L.M. Hildemann, M.A. Mazurek, G.R. Cass and B.R.T. Simoneit, Sources of tine organic aero- sol. 2. Noncatalyst and catalyst-equipped automobiles and heavy-duty diesel trucks. Environ. Sci. Technol., 27 (1993) 636-651.
- Takada, T. Onda and N. Ogura, Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban street dusts and their source materials by capillary gas chromatogra- phy. Environ, Sci. Technol., 24 (1990) 1179-1186.
- Masclet, G. Mouvier and K. Nikolaou, Relative decay index and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Atmos. Environ., 20 (1986) 439-446.
- C. Pierce and M. Katz, Dependency of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon content on size distribution of atmospheric aerosols. Environ. Sci. Technol., 9 (19751 347-353.
- Van Vaeck and K.A. Van Cauwenberghe, Character- istic parameters of particle size distributions of primary organic constituents of ambient aerosols. Environ. Sci. Technol., 19 (1985) 707-716.
- Katz and C. Chan, Comparative distribution of eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in airborne particu- lates collected by conventional high-volume sampling and by size fractionation. Environ. Sci. Technol., 14 (1980) 838-843.
- World Health Organization. (2005). Air quality guidelines for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide: Global update 2005. 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(88)90109-6
- M. da, Droste, A., Alves, D. D., & Oso?rio, D. M. M. (2018). Integrated evaluation of quantitative factors related to the environmental quality scenario. Handbook of environ- mental materials management, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1007 /978-3-319-58538-3_122-1
- Alves, D. D., Riegel, R. P., Klauck, C. R., Ceratti, A. M., Hansen, J., Cansi, L. M., et al. (2020). Source apportionment of metallic elements in urban atmospheric particulate matter and assessment of its water-soluble fraction toxicity. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27(11), 12202–12214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07791-8
- US EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. Particulate matter (PM) pollution. Disponi?vel em:
- Teixeira, E. C., Agudelo-Castan?eda, D. M., Fachel, J. M. G., Leal, K. A., Garcia, K. d. O., & Wiegand, F. (2012). Source identification and seasonal variation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with atmospheric fine and coarse particles in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Atmospheric Research, 118, 390–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2012.07.004
- IARC, I. A. for R. on C. (2013). Air pollution and cancer. In J. S. KURT STRAIF, AARON COHEN (Ed.), Clinical handbook of air pollution-related diseases (161st ed.). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62731-1_24
- Balakrishnan, K., Brauer, M., Chen, G., & Chow, J. (2015). To humans outdoor air pollution. IARC monographs, 109.
- Teixeira, E. C., Garcia, K. O., Meincke, L., & Leal, K. A. (2011). Study of nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fine and coarse atmospheric particles. Atmospheric Research, 101(3), 631–639. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2011.04.010
- Lewtas J. Complex mixtures of air pollutants: characterizing the cancer risk of polycyclic organic matter. J Environ Health 1993;100:211–8.
- Lewtas J. Air pollution combustion emissions: characterization of causative agents and mechanisms associated with cancer, reproductive, and cardiovascular effects. Mutat Res 2007;636:95–133.
- Binkova B, Vesely D, Vesela D, Jelinek R, Sram RJ. Genotoxicity and embryotoxicity of urban air particulate matter collected during winter and summer period in two different districts of the Czech Republic. Mutat Res 1999;440:45–58.
- Binkova B, Cerna M, Pastorkova A, Jelinek R, Benes I, Novak J, et al. Biological activities of organic compounds adsorbed onto ambient air particles: comparison between the cities of Teplice and Prague during the summer and winter seasons 2000–2001. Mutat Res 2003;525:43–59.
- Manoli E, Kouras A, Samara C. Profile analysis of ambient and source emitted particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from three sites in northern Greece. Chemosphere 2004;56:867–78.
- Mantis J, Chaloulakou A, Samara C. PM10-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the greater area of Athens, Greece. Chemosphere 2005;59:593–604.
- Ravindra K, Bencs L, Wauters E, de Hoog J, Deutsch F, Roekens E, et al. Seasonal and site specific variation in vapor and aerosol phase PAHs over Flanders (Belgium) and their relation with anthropogenic activities. Atmos Environ 2006a;40:771–85.
- Ravindra K, Mittal AK, Van Grieken R. Health risk assessment of urban suspended particulate matter with special reference to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: a review. Rev Environ Health 2001;16:169–89.
- Ravindra K, Sokhi RS, Van Grieken R. Atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: source attribution, emission factors and regulation. Atmos Environ 2008;42:2895–921.
- Breivik K, Vestreng V, Rozovskaya O, Pacyna JM. Atmospheric emission of existing inventories and data need. Environ Sci Policy 2006;9:663–74.
- Lawless, L., 1995. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils. Element Books Ltd., Shaftesburg, UK.
- Hossain, M. A.; Yeasmin, F.; Rahman, S. M.; Rana, M., Gas chromatograph–mass spectrometry determination of carcinogenic naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene and fluorene in the Bangsai river water of Bangladesh. J. Chem. 9. S109-S113. (2016).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2011.02.012
Download this article as 
How to cite this article:
Md. Shohel Rana, Most Rayhana Rahman, K.M. Fayek Itteshaf Rownok, Md Atiar Rahman, Md. Jamiul Kabir, Mahbuba Begum, Md Mahbubul Haque, M. S. Rhaman and Yeasmin Nahar Jolly. 2026. Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Atmospheric Particulate Matters (PM2.5) in Urban and Rural Areas of Bangladesh.
Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci. 15(1): 127-136. doi:
https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2026.1501.015
Citations
National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) 
