Occurrence and diurnal variation of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the background atmosphere of Eastern Mediterranean

During a two-week intensive field campaign conducted at a background location of the Eastern Mediterranean, consecutive 10-h air samples were collected under intense photochemical conditions and analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The average gas-phase concentration of total PCBs and PBDEs was 73 ± 29 and 3.9 ± 2.1 pg m−3, respectively. The study of Clausius–Clapeyron plots and air mass back-trajectories assigned the origin of air masses as the factor largely controlling the variation of PCB and PBDE air concentrations in the study area. Using principal component analysis, discrete differences in PCBs homologue profiles were revealed between day and night samples and attributed to the daytime reaction with hydroxyl radicals. In contrast, PBDE homologue profiles did not show any characteristic day-to-night shifts that could be attributed to hydroxyl radical reaction or photolysis.