Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) levels from two industrial zones (Sihwa and Banwal) located in An-san city of the Korean Peninsula and their influence on lake

The present research investigation was aimed at monitoring the levels of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Korean ambient air, pine needle, and soil. Samples were collected from two large industrial zones of An-san city namely Sihwa and Banwal, both these industrial zones were further divided into major and minor zones in order to compare the levels of PAHs between the two industrial zones. Furthermore, the quality of the lake water near these two industrial zones was also monitored by analyzing water (dissolved phase, suspended solids) and sediment samples for the detection of PAHs. In this study, a high volume sampling method (HVAS-Sibata) was employed to collect airborne PAHs in both the particulate and gas phases. Hewlett Packard gas chromatographs equipped with mass spectrometer detectors (GC/MS) were used to analyze the samples. The monitoring data revealed that Sihwa major industrial zone have lower levels of PAHs in comparison to Sihwa minor industrial zone where increase levels of PAHs were observed in both the ambient air and soil samples, whereas in case of pine needle sample the PAHs levels were higher in Sihwa industrial zone. The sum of PAHs levels in ambient air from Sihwa major industrial and minor zones were found to be ranging between 50.17 ng/m and 96.46 ng/m whereas the estimated levels of PAHs from Banwal major industrial and minor zones were found to be ranging between 149.64 ng/m and 34.87 ng/m respectively. Since Banwal major industrial zone includes many sources, higher levels of PAHs were observed in almost all the samples as compared to Banwal minor industrial zone. Similarly, the level of PAHs in water and sediment samples from lake near Sihwa industrial zone showed an increase trend in dissolved and suspended solids in comparison to samples collected near Banwal industrial zone. Phenanthrene, Indeno[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene and Benzo[g,h,i]perylene showed the highest levels in both the zones. However, the levels of PAHs in sediment samples were lower near Sihwa industrial zone and vice versa, however lowest concentration of Anthracene was observed in both the zones. A detailed and thorough environmental monitoring for the presence of these toxic compounds in the environment is currently needed to set a baseline for future research. The work is still in progress to estimate the levels of PAHs from both these sites within our laboratory. @JASEM Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) form a ubiquitous class of environmental chemical pollutants. These are multi-ringed compounds and have received considerable attention in recent years because some of these compounds are potent carcinogenic or mutagenic in nature (Marr et al., 1999). Their characteristic of lipophilicity, low water solubility and adsorption to marine particles and sediments makes them a potentially dangerous group of chemicals and a threat to the environment and its bioresources (Macias-Zamora et al., 2002; Raoux et al., 1999), as these compounds may undergo specific biotic and abiotic transformations reactions, thus causing harmful damaging effects on human health and its environment. PAHs are derived mainly from anthropogenic inputs and are products of incomplete combustion. Although numerous researchers have measured PAHs concentration in ambient air, very few studies link their presence to a specific source. Anthropogenic sources contribute significantly to the concentration of PAHs in the environment, as well as natural combustion sources of PAHs. Each individual source is characterized by a specific molecular pattern, allowing the source of these compounds to be established (Savinov et al., 2000; Guinan et al., 2001). PAHs are often associated with small atmospheric particles that can be carried far from the point source (Preston et al., 2000). The large amounts of fossil fuels burnt’s for domestic heating could also contribute to a local atmospheric sources of PAHs along with urban run-off and automotive sources which have been shown to be a major source of PAHs (Dickhut et al., 2000). Particle size and organic carbon have also been shown to influence the concentration and therefore distribution of PAHs in sediments (Yang, 2000). In addition, physicalchemical properties of some PAH, like chemical reactivity, can also contribute to modify the original distribution pattern of the emission sources (Soclo et al., 2000). Industrial activities also constitute the JASEM ISSN 1119-8362 All rights reserved J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Mgt. 2005 Vol. 9 (3) 63 69 Full-text Available Online at http:// www.bioline.org.br/ja Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon Levels.. Hashmi Imran, Jong – Guk Kim, Kyoung Sim Kim And Jin-Soo Park 64 main source of PAHs, but it is difficult to identify which PAHs have been introduced from pyrogenic or petrogenic origin. Studies have shown that PAHs from these sources exhibited different chemical behaviors and distributions. PAHs from pyrogenic sources tend to be more strongly associated with sediment and soot particles and more resistant to microbial degradation than PAHs from petrogenic sources (Benlahcen et al., 1997). It is generally accepted that pyrogenic PAHs are characterized by the dominance of high molecular mass 4-6 ring PAHs over the low molecular mass 2-3 ring compounds (Guinan et al., 2001). Ratios between individual PAHs compounds are used to identify the processes from which PAHs originate (Wang et al., 1999; Woodhead et al., 1999), however they are not conclusive in the analysis of petrogenic and pyrolytic origin. Baumard et al., (1999) reported that PAHs ratios between compounds suggested that a mass petrogenic signature existed closer to land than in offshore sediments (fig 1). The objectives of the current study were to monitor and compare the levels of PAHs from two major and minor industrial zones of An-san city namely Sihwa and Banwal, and also to observe the quality of the lake water near these two industrial zones. In general, an attempt was also made to identify the possible contribution from long-range transport. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two sampling sites were identified for detecting the levels of PAHs these includes Sihwa and Banwal industrial zones for sample collection. The information related to each sampling site is described in Fig 1.