Characterization, concentrations and emission rates of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the exhaust emissions from in-service vehicles in Damascus

Motor vehicles are significant sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions to the urban atmosphere. Improved understanding of PAH emission profiles in mobile sources is the key to determining the viable approach for reducing PAH emissions from motor vehicles. Very limited data is available on the levels of PAH emissions in the urban atmospheres in Syria and no data are currently available on the level of PAH emissions from different combustion sources in the country. The aim of this study was to determine the profile and concentration of PAH in exhaust emissions of light and heavy-duty vehicles running on the roads of Damascus city. Three different types of vehicles (passenger cars, minivans and buses) were selected along with different age groups. Vapor- and particulate-phase PAH were collected from the vehicular exhausts of six in-service vehicles (with/without catalytic converters). High-performance liquid chromatography system, equipped with UV–Visible and fluorescence detectors, was used for the identification and quantification of PAH compounds in the cleaned extracts of the collected samples. The mean concentration of total PAH emissions (sum of 15 compounds) from all types of studied vehicles ranged between 69.28 ± 1.06 μg/m3 for passenger cars equipped with catalytic converters and 2169.41 ± 5.17 μg/m3 for old diesel buses without pollution controls. Values of total benzo(a)pyrene equivalent (∑ B[a]Peq) ranged between 1.868 μg/m3and 37.652 μg/m3. The results obtained in this study showed that the use of catalytic converters resulted into cleaner exhaust compositions and emissions with characteristics that are distinct from those obtained in the absence of catalytic converters.