Continuous monitoring of ambient polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons near open-air burning of metal scraps

Airborne concentrations of PAH in the vicinity of the source region with open-air burning of metal scraps were measured between February, 1992 and November, 1993. The activity of open-air burning decreased significantly since 1993 due to prohibition regulation. Both gaseous phase and particle-bound PAH were measured at five sampling sites, which included one reference sampling site far away from the source region. Both values of gaseous and particle-bound PAH concentrations, which were measured in the vicinity of source region, decreased clearly during the two years monitoring period. It shows that the uncontrolled open-air burning of metal scraps was a significant emission source of airborne PAH in the study area. The profiles of various species of PAH were also compared. A large decrease in benzo(a)pyrene was observed in the source region.