Atmospheric occurrence, homologue patterns and source apportionment of short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in Shanghai, China: Biomonitoring with Masson pine (Pinus massoniana L.) needles

- SCCPs and MCCPs were measured in pine needles from Shanghai, China.
- Ubiquitous CPs in pine needles were the result of atmospheric transport.
- Higher CP levels in pine needles were mainly attributed to industrial activities.
- MCCPs were statistically higher than SCCPs in pine needles.
- Source identification and apportionment of CPs were conducted by the FA-MLR.

A comprehensive survey was conducted to Masson pine (Pinus massoniana L.) needles widely distributed in Shanghai in order to investigate the levels and homologue group patterns of short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs), to identify and quantitatively assess source contributions to the total CPs in pine needle samples. The concentration ranged from not detected (ND) to 13,600 ng g− 1 with a geometric mean (GM) value of 63.7 ng g− 1 for ΣSCCPs, from 12.4 to 33,500 ng g− 1 with a GM value of 677 ng g− 1 for ΣMCCPs, and from 14.0 to 45,700 ng g− 1 with a GM value of 768 ng g− 1 for total CPs. For different sampling units, the pollution levels both for SCCPs and MCCPs in pine needles were in the same orders: Pudong > suburbs > Puxi > Chongming. These significant differences in SCCPs and MCCPs among four sampling units could be associated with difference in industrial activities and to some extent also in population density. All pine needle samples (n = 131) were divided into 2 groups by hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) for SCCPs and MCCPs, the most abundant homologue groups in the bulk of pine needle samples were C11Cl5 − 7 and C13Cl5 − 7 for SCCPs, and C14Cl7 − 8 and C15Cl7 − 8 for MCCPs. Correlation analysis suggested that SCCPs and MCCPs in pine needles in the studied area may be derived from different sources. Four sources for pine needles were identified by the FA-MLR model; their relative contributions to the total CP burden in pine needles were 18.0% for F1 (attributed to commercial SCCP mixture), 42.2% for F2 (attributed to commercial MCCP mixture), 29.3% for F3 (attributed to LRAT), and 10.5% for F4 (unknown source). CP contamination of atmospheric air by point sources and long-range atmospheric transport in Shanghai should receive more attention by local government.

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