Characteristic of Saturated Hydrocarbons in Total Suspended Particulate from an Underground Garage

Total suspended particulates (TSP) were collected from March 16, 2009 to March 20, 2009 at an underground garage in Chengdu University of Information Technology. Concentrations of TSP and its saturated hydrocarbons and other molecular markers were analyzed to characterize the pollution of vehicles in underground garage. Concentrations of TSP were higher during the daytime(182.4-226.6 μg m^-3) than the nighttime´s (111.6-134.3 μg m^-3). The Σn-alkane ranged from C₁₂ to C₃₆ and daily concentration of n-alkanes at sampling site ranged from 261 to 551 ng m^-3 with an average of 425 ng m^-3. The Carbon preference index (CPI) values ranging from 1.103 to 1.324 for the underground garage, indicated the strong influence of anthropogenic sources (vehicular). Series of Hopanes and Steranes were observed in the TSP samples, which indicated a petroleum origin.