Atmospheric gas-particle partitioning versus gaseous/particle-bound deposition of SVOCs: Why they are not equivalent

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) can be particle-bound or in the gas phase in the atmosphere, depending on the (temperature dependent) gas-particle partitioning of the chemicals and the fraction of particles in air. Several studies linked gas-particle partitioning of SVOCs in the atmosphere directly to the gaseous/particle-bound deposition of these chemicals, i.e. in cases of compounds occurring mainly in the gas phase, the deposition was also assumed to be mainly in gaseous form. In this study, we apply a multi-media fate model to point out that gas-particle partitioning of SVOCs in air and gaseous/particle-bound deposition of SVOCs are driven by different mechanism and, thus, cannot be deduced from each other. We apply our calculations to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as model SVOCs. We show that the fraction of particle-bound deposition to deciduous forest is 1.5-190 times higher in winter and between 5 and 1000 times higher in summer than the particle-bound fraction of these chemicals in air. The fraction of particle-bound deposition to coniferous forest is 1.5-172 times higher in winter and between 5 and 1000 times higher in summer than the particle-bound fraction of PCBs in air. In addition to the fractions of particle-bound SVOCs in air and particle-bound deposition, we recalculated particle-bound and gaseous deposition velocities to coniferous and deciduous forest for PCBs. The deposition velocities obtained for dry gaseous deposition (<1 m/h) are much lower than the existing values in the literature (10-200 m/h) because earlier studies assumed that for PCBs occurring predominantly in the gas phase, interception was also completely due to dry gaseous deposition.

Original languageEnglish
JournalAtmospheric Environment
Volume115
Pages (from-to)317-324
Number of pages8
ISSN1352-2310
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 08.2015

    Research areas

  • Deposition, Forest, Gas-particle partitioning, Particle-bound, Polychlorinated biphenyls, Semi-volatile organic compounds
  • Chemistry
  • Sustainability Science

Recently viewed

Researchers

  1. Hans-Joachim Plewig

Publications

  1. The role of tree crown on the performance of trees at individual and community levels
  2. The role of supervisor support for dealing with customer verbal aggression. Differences between ethnic minority and ethnic majority workers
  3. Heterogenität
  4. Study of non-linear systems
  5. Conceptualizing sustainable consumption
  6. Transformative Impulse
  7. The Break In and With History
  8. Using Large N Longitudinal Comparison to Explain Political Recruitment in Changing Democracies
  9. An Unusual Encounter with Oneself
  10. Exploring the potential of using priority effects during ecological restoration to resist biological invasions in the neotropics
  11. The unadaptable fellow
  12. Trust in scientists, risk perception, conspiratorial beliefs, and unrealistic optimism
  13. Adding the “e-” to Learning for Sustainable Development
  14. Ionic liquids vs. ethanol as extraction media of algicidal compounds from mango processing waste
  15. A framework to enable sustainability-oriented transition activities in HEIs
  16. Collaborative business in supply chains - a system dynamics approach
  17. Later Life Workplace Index: Validation of an English Version
  18. Existenzgründungen junger Handwerksmeister
  19. Harmonization in the World Values Survey
  20. Negotiating boundaries through reality shows
  21. Modeling Interactions and Dependencies in Production Planning and Control
  22. Distal and proximal predictors of snacking at work
  23. Ideology as filter
  24. Set-Oriented and Finite-Element Study of Coherent Behavior in Rayleigh-Bénard Convection
  25. Simple measures and complex structures
  26. Multimodality
  27. Planar multipole resonance probe
  28. Knowledge retention from older and retiring workers
  29. Parameters, concepts and the terminology of outer space law: a review of the essential facilities served by outer space activities and the rules of interpretation for treaty law and soft law guidelines.
  30. Recruitment practices in small and medium size enterprises.
  31. Winning Ugly