Organophosphate esters (OPEs) in fine particulate matter (PM) in urban, e-waste, and background regions of South China.

J Hazard Mater

State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.

Published: March 2020

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are a focus of research because they are ubiquitous in the environment; however, there is still a limited understanding of the behaviors and fate of OPEs in the environment. In this study, we measured OPEs in fine particulate matter (PM) collected from three regions in South China that have potentially different sources. The concentrations of ∑OPEs in the rural electronic waste (e-waste) recycling area (3852-57,695 pg/m with a median of 10,955 pg/m) were significantly higher than those in the urban and background areas with concentrations of 314-9721 pg/m (median = 2346 pg/m) and 667 and 109,599 pg/m (median = 2170 pg/m), respectively. The OPE compositions in the urban and e-waste areas were generally similar. Correlations analysis with other components of PM (organic carbon, elemental carbon, and water soluble ions) indicated primary industrial and e-waste sources of OPEs in the urban and e-waste regions, respectively. Correlation analysis also revealed that relative humility played an important role in their air concentrations in the urban and background regions. The air-parcel backward trajectories of the background site demonstrated regional atmospheric transport of OPEs to this region from both the eastern industrial cities and the northern e-waste recycling region.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121583DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

urban e-waste
12
organophosphate esters
8
esters opes
8
opes fine
8
fine particulate
8
particulate matter
8
background regions
8
regions south
8
south china
8
e-waste recycling
8

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!