VOC in an urban and industrial harbor on the French North Sea coast during two contrasted meteorological situations

Two measurement campaigns of volatile organic compounds (VOC) were carried out in the industrial city of Dunkerque, using Radiello passive samplers during winter (16–23 January) and summer (6–13 June) 2007. 174 compounds were identified belonging to six chemical families. Classifying sampling sites with similar chemical profiles by hierarchical ascending classification resulted in 4 groups that reflected the influence of the main industrial and urban sources of pollution. Also, the BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylenes) quantification allowed us to map their levels of concentration. Benzene and toluene (BT) showed high concentrations in Northern Dunkerque reflecting the influence of two industrial plants. Differences among spatial distributions of the BT concentrations over contrasted meteorological conditions were also observed. An atypical ratio of T/B in the summer samples led us to investigate the BTEX origins shedding light on the contribution of pollutants transported across various zones of VOC emissions situated in Europe.