Atmosphere (Sep 2020)

Pollution Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of Summertime Atmospheric Volatile Halogenated Hydrocarbons in a Typical Urban Area of Beijing, China

  • Yuanyuan Ji,
  • Linghong Xu,
  • Hong Li,
  • Chuhan Wang,
  • Dongyao Xu,
  • Lei Li,
  • Hao Zhang,
  • Jingchun Duan,
  • Yujie Zhang,
  • Xuezhong Wang,
  • Weiqi Zhang,
  • Fang Bi,
  • Yizhen Chen,
  • Yanting Yu,
  • Lingshuo Meng

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11101021
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 10
p. 1021

Abstract

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Twenty-three atmospheric volatile halogenated hydrocarbons (VHHs) were detected in a typical urban area of Beijing, China from 24 August to 4 September, 2012. The mean and range in daily mass concentrations of the 23 VHHs were 30.53 and 13.45–76.33 µg/m3, respectively. Seven of those VHHs were controlled ozone-depleting substances in China, with a mean of 12.95 µg/m3, accounting for 42.43% of the total. Compared with other national and international cities, the concentrations of the selected 11 VHHs in this study were relatively higher. Dichloroethane had the highest mass concentration, followed by difluorochloromethane. Maxima of total VHHs occurred within the period 8:30–9:00 a.m., while minima occurred during 1:30–2:00 p.m. Source apportionment suggested that the main sources of VHHs in the study area were solvents usage and industrial processes, leakage of chlorofluorocarbons banks, refrigerants, and fumigant usage. Among the selected 7 VHHs, trichloromethane, tetrachloromethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, and 1,4-dichlorobenzene posed potential carcinogenic risks to exposed populations, while none of the selected 11 VHHs posed appreciable non-carcinogenic risks to exposed populations. The carcinogenic risks from atmospheric VHHs in Beijing are higher than in other Chinese cities, indicating that it is necessary to implement immediate control measures for atmospheric VHHs in Beijing.

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