Atmospheric deposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to Izmit Bay, Turkey Original Research Article

Wet deposition and dry deposition samples were collected in an urban/industrialized area of Izmit Bay, North-eastern Marmara Sea, Turkey, from September 2002 to July 2003. The samples were analyzed for sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds by using HPLC-UV technique. Wet and dry deposition concentrations and fluxes of PAHs were determined. The results showed that PAH concentrations were high because of industrial processes, heavy traffic and residential areas next to the sampling site. Total dry deposition flux of the fifteen 3–6 ring PAHs was 8.30 μg m−2 day−1, with a range of 0.034–1.77 μg m−2 day−1. The total wet deposition flux of the fifteen 3–6 ring PAHs was 1716 μg m−2 11 month−1, with a range of 10–440 μg m−2 11 month−1. Significant seasonal differences were observed in both types of deposition samples. The winter fluxes of total PAHs were 1.5 and 2.5 times greater than those of the warm period for wet and dry deposition samples, respectively. Factor analysis of dry deposition samples and back trajectory analysis of wet deposition samples were also used to characterize and identify the PAH emission sources in this study.