Assessing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the marine atmosphere of the Southwest Atlantic Ocean

PEGORARO, CESAR; QUIROGA, SANDRA; MONTEJANO, HERNAN; RIMONDINO, GUIDO NOÉ; ARGÜELLO, GUSTAVO A; CHIAPPERO, MALISA

Atmospheric Pollution Research

Elsevier

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2020 vol. 11 p. 1035 - 1035

1309-1042

olycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous and semi volatile pollutants associated with emissions from both natural and anthropogenic sources. For decades, the atmosphere has been considered an efficient vehicle for pollutants transport around the world. In order to assess the atmospheric occurrence of PAHs across a transect in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean, air samples were collected aboard the oceanographic vessel ARA Puerto Deseado (CONICET), during two consecutive research campaigns in the 2014 (October-November) spring. Total PAHs were dominated by gas phase levels of phenantrene, dibenzothiophene, fluorene, fluoranthene, and pyrene in a concentration range of 57-5778 pg m-3. Characteristic diagnostic ratios of some PAHs were estimated in order to assess their possible emission sources, showing important contribution from petrogenic and pyrogenic origin. Additionally, air mass back trajectory calculations revealed a marked influence of air with oceanic origin, being the