THE USE OF PASSIVE SAMPLERS FOR MONITORING POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS IN AMBIENT AIR

In this study polcyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations of ambient air are compared to those present in leaves, spruce sprouts and in the corresponding soil used as passive samplers. Marked profile alterations were detected in various soil horizons with increasing relative concentrations of higher boiling and decreasing relative concentrations of lower boiling PAH with depth. There is no direct correlation between the absolute PAH masses found in air samples and those collected by passive samplers or detected in corresponding soil samples. Even the PAH profiles differ significantly; they can, however, be correlated by introducing PAH- and sampler-specific factors. The PAH profiles appear to indicate that coal combustion mostly contributes to the PAH air pollution in the FRG. The time course of the concentration of benzo[a]pyrene and benzo[e]pyrene during the past seven years as measured with spruce sprouts as biological passive sampler indicate a significant decrease of the PAH concentration (by a factor of two) in the FRG. First measurements in a clean air area of the Eastern part of the FRG exhibited up to ten times higher PAH concentrations than found in comparable areas of the western part of the country.