Notice of RetractionCharacteristics of Particulate Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Three Typical Cities of the Pearl River Delta, China

Notice of Retraction

After careful and considered review of the content of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of IEEE´s Publication Principles.

We hereby retract the content of this paper. Reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper.

The presenting author of this paper has the option to appeal this decision by contacting TPII@ieee.org.

Particulate Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous pollutants in the urban atmosphere, which are harmful to human health. PM_2.5 samples in the urban atmosphere of Guangzhou, Dongguan and Zhaoqing were collected between 18 and 24 October 2009. Sixteen USEPA priority PAHs in PM_2.5 samples were analyzed with GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). The result showed that the atmospheric PAH concentrations varied between 4.09 and 30.83 ng/m³, and the main chemical constitution of PAHs in PM2S were Benzo(b), Fluoranthene (BbF), Indeno (1,2,3-cd) pyrene (IcdP)., Benzo (ghi) perylene (BghiP). The average concentration of the BaP in each city were as follows: ZhaoQing was 0.47ng/m³, DongGuan was 1.62ng/m³, and Guanzhou was 0.82ng/m3. Because of their molecular structures and content, most PAHs associated with PM_2.5 in the three cities are carcinogenic substances.