Effects of atmospheric humic-like substances on dynamics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25740015
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Environmental dynamic analysis
• Research Institution: Osaka City Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences
• Principal Investigator: Asakawa Daichi 大阪市立環境科学研究所, その他部局等, 研究員 (80470251)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 腐植様物質 / 多環芳香族炭化水素 / エアロゾル / チャンバー実験 / 構造特性解析 / 微小粒子状物質

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Transportation and health effects of atmospheric pollutant may be influenced by adsorption of the pollutants to humic-like substances (HULIS) in aerosol. In this work, an aerosol chamber was constructed to demonstrate the adsorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to the HULIS particles. The concentrations of the 5- and 6-ring PAHs in the chamber exhaust were higher in the presence of the HULIS particles than in the presence of sodium chloride and ammonium sulfate particles, suggesting the preferential adsorption of these PAHs to the HULIS particles than these salt particles. Comparison with water-soluble and fulvic acid HULISs, humic acid HULIS showed higher adsorption affinity of PAHs. The higher adsorption affinity of the humic acid HULIS might be due to its structural properties, such as molecular size and contents of fatty acids. The results of this work suggest that investigations of the HULIS are necessary for a better understanding of the PAHs dynamics.

Free Research Field

環境科学