Atmospheric deposition modeling of polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls in the ambient air of southern Taiwan. Part I. Dry depositions

Abstract

Atmospheric deposition, including dry and wet deposition, is a primary pathway for the transfer of POPs to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In this study (that is, the part I.), the characteristics of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in the ambient air of Tainan City were simulated by the PM10 versus PCDD/Fs concentration regression analysis, gas-particle partition modeling, and the simulation of dry deposition. Dry deposition fluxes are obtained from the combination of the PCDD/F and PCB concentrations, meteorological information, dry deposition velocities, and scavenging ratios. The dry deposition fluxes of PCDD/F-TEQ2005 increase with decreasing temperature, while increase with a higher degree of chlorine numbers on PCDD/F homologues. In this study (that is, the part I.), the average PCDD/F dry deposition fluxes in spring, summer, fall and winter were 69.3, 28.2, 129 and 246 pg WHO-TEQ/m2-month during 2012, respectively. As for 2013, the average PCDD/F dry deposition fluxes in spring, summer, fall and winter were 67.0, 29.8, 102 and 377 pg WHO-TEQ/m2-month, respectively. The average PCB dry deposition fluxes in spring, summer, fall and winter were 2.16, 1.99, 5.70 and 11.9 pg WHO-TEQ/m2-month during 2012, respectively. As for 2013, the average PCB dry deposition fluxes in spring, summer, fall and winter were 2.11, 1.27, 4.49 and 8.88 pg WHO-TEQ/m2-month, respectively. The minimum simulated value occurred in summer, while the maximum dry deposition fluxes, which were about 4–5 times higher than the minimum values, occurred in winter. The lower values observed in summer may be caused by the atmospheric diffusion of SVOCs and high rainfall intensity.