Assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in industrial and urban areas using passive air samplers and leaves of Tillandsia capillaris

• PAS and biomonitors exposed higher concentration values of PAHs during the dry season (winter).
• Higher concentrations of PAHs were observed at the industrial site.
• Strong positive correlations between PAS and biomonitors for Σ PAHs at b7oth seasons.
• Better correlations between PAS and biomonitors were found for Σ LMW PAHs.

This study extends the current knowledge regarding the use of passive air samplers (PAS) and biomonitoring with plants for the measurement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), with the aim of evaluating the association between the accumulation of PAHs in leaves of Tillandsia capillaris and their concentrations in air measured by PAS. In addition, in order to study the seasonal variations of PAHs emitted by industries and vehicular traffic, a monitoring program was performed employing leaves of T. capillaris and polyurethane foam (PUF) disk passive air samplers. Results showed that both passive samplers and biomonitors presented the highest concentration values of PAHs in the dry season at sites with anthropic influence. Most of the PAHs were associated with urban and industrial sources present in the city of Córdoba. The concentration of ANT was associated with the presence of domestic sources; the use of natural gas as fuel for the cement plant was considered to be an important source of BaA and DBA enrichment was associated with vehicle emissions in this area. T. capillaris demonstrated to be a good accumulator of PAHs, considering that it reflected seasonal differences between different sites and that these were similar to those found in the passive samplers for the dry season. Therefore, these results contribute to the development of protocols for monitoring programs of PAHs that can be applied over large areas.