Chemical characteristic and toxicity assessment of particle associated PAHs for the short-term anthropogenic activity event: During the Chinese New Year's Festival in 2013

PM10 and PM2.5 samples were simultaneously collected during a period which covered the Chinese New Year's (CNY) Festival. The concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured. The possible source contributions and toxicity risks were estimated for Festival and non-Festival periods. According to the diagnostic ratios and Multilinear Engine 2 (ME2), three sources were identified and their contributions were calculated: vehicle emission (48.97% for PM10, 53.56% for PM2.5), biomass & coal combustion (36.83% for PM10, 28.76% for PM2.5), and cook emission (22.29% for PM10, 27.23% for PM2.5). An interesting result was found: although the PAHs are not directly from the fireworks display, they were still indirectly influenced by biomass combustion which is affiliated with the fireworks display. Additionally, toxicity risks of different sources were estimated by Multilinear Engine 2-BaP equivalent (ME2-BaPE): vehicle emission (54.01% for PM10, 55.42% for PM2.5), cook emission (25.59% for PM10, 29.05% for PM2.5), and biomass & coal combustion source (20.90% for PM10, 14.28% for PM2.5). It is worth to be noticed that the toxicity contribution of cook emission was considerable in Festival period. The findings can provide useful information to protect the urban human health, as well as develop the effective air control strategies in special short-term anthropogenic activity event.