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Source contributions and spatiotemporal characteristics of PAHs in sediments: Using three‐way source apportionment approach
Author(s) -
Tian YingZe,
Shi GuoLiang,
Liu GuiRong,
Guo ChangSheng,
Peng Xing,
Xu Jian,
Zhang Yuan,
Feng YinChang
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.2628
Subject(s) - environmental science , apportionment , coal combustion products , pollutant , environmental chemistry , dry season , spatial variability , flooding (psychology) , combustion , chemistry , ecology , statistics , mathematics , organic chemistry , political science , law , biology , psychology , psychotherapist
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) were measured in sediments from 29 sites throughout Taihu Lake in China during 2 seasons to investigate spatiotemporal characteristics and source contributions using a 3‐way source apportionment approach to positive matrix factorization (PMF3). Seasonal and spatial variations of levels and toxicity suggested higher individual carcinogenic PAH concentrations and toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) in the flooding season. Three‐way PAHs dataset (PAH species, spatial variability, and seasonal variability) was analyzed by PMF3, and its results were compared with a widely used 2‐way model (PMF2). Consistent results were observed: vehicular emission was the most important contributor (67.08% by PMF2 and 61.83% by PMF3 for the flooding season; 54.21% by PMF2 and 52.94% by PMF3 for dry season), followed by coal combustion and wood combustion in both seasons. The PMF‐cluster analysis was employed to investigate spatial variability of source contributions. Findings can introduce the 3‐way approach to apportion sources of PAHs and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in sediments, offering the advantage of accounting for information on 3‐way datasets. Environ Toxicol Chem 2014;33:1747–1753 . © 2014 SETAC