Characteristics, toxicity, and source apportionment of polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in road dust of Ulsan, Korea

This study identified concentrations, molecular distributions, toxicities, and sources of polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in road dust from different areas of Ulsan, the largest industrial city in Korea. The total PAH concentrations in industrial areas were dependent on industrial emissions and vehicular exhaust, while those in urban areas were mainly dependent on traffic density, sampling site location, and accumulation of pollutants or road dust. The PAH concentration of each particle size group increased with decreasing particle size. This may be because of the higher surface area available for deposition or coating of PAHs in road dust with smaller particle sizes. The molecular distributions of PAHs among the sites in the petrochemical area and heavy traffic area were similar because of the similarities in their emission sources. The toxic equivalent concentrations (TEQs) of PAHs in the road dust ranged from 0.93 μg/g to 16.74 μg/g in industrial areas and from 4.37 μg/g to 68.84 μg/g in urban areas. The correlation coefficient of total PAH concentration and TEQ in urban areas was 0.98, which was much higher than that in industrial areas where it was 0.75. Principal component analysis showed that PAHs in road dust from Ulsan originate from four main sources: diesel vehicular emissions, oil combustion, gasoline vehicular emissions, and coal combustion.