Characteristics and source apportionment of volatile organic compounds during the remediation of contaminated sites in Zhenjiang, China

Recently, contaminated site is an important source of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In order to clarify the contaminated site VOCs concentration level, species, and sources, air samples were collected with Summa Canisters in the atmosphere of a closed plant during the in situ thermal desorption remediation process. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency TO-15 method, 57 kinds of VOCs were detected, using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method. The results showed that the concentration of total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) ranged from 99.49 μg·m−3 to 849.63 μg·m−3, with a mean value of 460.93 μg·m−3. The detected VOCs could be categorized as olefins, halogenated hydrocarbons, alcohols, ketones, sulfur compounds, ethers, esters, alkanes, and aromatics. Halogenated hydrocarbons and aromatics were the predominant compounds, whose concentration accounted for 40.27% and 39.73% of TVOCs, respectively. The principal component analysis results showed that the production of glyphosates, raw pesticide materials, and exhaust emissions during plant production process and site remediation were the probable sources of detected ambient VOCs. This study is significant to assess human health risk during the site remediation and make VOCs controlling policy.