Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) around tea processing industries using high-sulfur coals.

In the present investigation, the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) associated with PM2.5, PM10 and dust particles emitted from two tea processing industrial units were studied that uses high-sulfur coal as their energy source. A total of 16 PAHs (viz. naphthalene (Nap), acenaphthene (Ace), acenaphthylene (Acen), phenanthrene (Phe), fluorene (Flu), anthracene (Ant), fluoranthene (Fluo), pyrene (Pyr), benz[a]anthracene (BaA), chrysene (Chry), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF), benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), dibenz[a,h]anthracene (DBahA), indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (IP) and benzo[ghi]perylene (BghiP) were measured. The total PAH concentration was found to be 94.7 ng/m3 (∑4 PAHs) in the PM10 particle, 32.5 (∑12 PAHs) in PM2.5 and 1.08 ng/m3 (∑6 PAHs) in the dust sample from site A. In site B, the sum of the PAHs in the PM2.5, PM10 and dust samples are found to be 154.4 ng/m3 (∑7 PAHs), 165 ng/m3 (∑3 PAHs) and 1.27 ng/m3 (∑6 PAHs), respectively. Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model study revealed the contribution of local or long-range transport of aerosol sources. Along with the coal combustion activities in the study sites, other sources such as biomass burning and vehicular emission may contribute to the PAHs in the aerosol samples.