PARENT SESSION
PW16 - Atmopheric Fate Processes
Wednesday, 20 November 2002
8:00 AM to 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall
(P902) Spatial Distribution of PAHs in the Northern Virginia Atmosphere.
Allen, Robert*,1, Foster, Gregory1, 1 George Mason University, Fairfax
ABSTRACT- The concentration and sources of PAHs in the atmosphere of Northern Virginia, during the summer of 2002, was investigated with the hypothesis that the concentration and sources of PAH were dependent upon the sampling area. Air samples were collected using an Andersen high-volume air sampler with one glass fiber filter to collect the particulate fraction and two polyurethane plugs with a XAD-resin plug in between to collect the vapor fraction. The filters, XAD resin, and the plugs were extracted using a soxhlet extractor with a 50:50 by volume mixture of hexane and ethyl acetate. Following extraction, the extracts were reduced via rotary flash evaporation. After solvent volume reduction, the extracts will be passed through a chromatography column to isolate the PAHs from other SVOCs. The samples were analyzed using a Hewlett-Packard (HP) gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) to quantify PAH concentrations in the samples. The average volume of air to be collected is 1000 cubic meters of air over a period of twenty-four hours. The data received from the MSD is to be analyzed to determine the concentrations of PAHs in the atmosphere across Northern Virginia, to determine the gas/particle partitioning coefficient of each PAH, and to determine the source pattern for each location. The partitioning coefficient will be determined by using the direct concentrations and by using the physical properties of each PAH. Source identification will be done using multi variable linear regression and PAH ratios.
Key words: Atmospheric, PAHs