Measurements of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in airborne particles from the metropolitan area of São Paulo City, Brazil

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from phenanthrene to benzo[g,h,i]perylene in airborne particles were measured in the winter of 2000 at three different sites within the metropolitan area of São Paulo City (MASP), Brazil. It is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and has an unconventional mixture of vehicle types, in which a variety of gasoline blends, including oxygenated ones, are used. In this study, occurrence of PAH, meteorological conditions and inter and intrasite comparisons are presented. Overall, the results revealed low PAH levels due to rainfall episodes during the sampling period. Samples collected in the urban site presented the highest PAH concentrations (av. 3.10 ng m−3) when compared to those collected in the urban site with dense vegetation (av. 2.73 ng m−3) and in the forest area (av. 1.92 ng m−3). PAH measurements in tunnels with different types of vehicles were performed in order to suggest possible tracers of the vehicular emissions in São Paulo. Pyrene followed by chrysene and fluoranthene were emitted mainly from gasohol vehicular motor exhausts, whereas chrysene, pyrene and benzo[a]anthracene were emitted mainly from gasohol and diesel vehicular motor exhausts. Some characteristic ratios from the tunnel measurements were used to identify vehicular sources in the atmosphere of the MASP. Although it is known that losses can occur both by evaporation and sublimation during sampling, measurements of higher molecular weight PAH compounds were taken into consideration due to their high recovery efficiency.