Articles | Volume 22, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8739-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8739-2022
Research article
 | 
07 Jul 2022
Research article |  | 07 Jul 2022

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their alkylated, nitrated and oxygenated derivatives in the atmosphere over the Mediterranean and Middle East seas

Marco Wietzoreck, Marios Kyprianou, Benjamin A. Musa Bandowe, Siddika Celik, John N. Crowley, Frank Drewnick, Philipp Eger, Nils Friedrich, Minas Iakovides, Petr Kukučka, Jan Kuta, Barbora Nežiková, Petra Pokorná, Petra Přibylová, Roman Prokeš, Roland Rohloff, Ivan Tadic, Sebastian Tauer, Jake Wilson, Hartwig Harder, Jos Lelieveld, Ulrich Pöschl, Euripides G. Stephanou, and Gerhard Lammel

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Cited articles

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Albinet, A., Leoz-Garziandia, E., Budzinski, H., Villenave, E., and Jaffrezo, J. L.: Nitrated and oxygenated derivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the ambient air of two French alpine valleys, Part 1: concentrations, sources and gas/particle partitioning, Atmos. Environ., 42, 43–54, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.10.009, 2008. 
Alves, C. A., Vicente, A. M., Custódio, D., Cerqueira, M., Nunes, T., Pio, C., Lucarelli, F., Calzolai, G., Nava, S., Diapouli, E., Eleftheriadis, K., Querol, X., and Bandowe, B. A. M.: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their derivatives (nitro-PAHs, oxygenated PAHs, and azaarenes) in PM2.5 from southern European cities, Sci. Total Environ., 595, 494–504, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.03.256, 2017. 
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A unique dataset of concentrations and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their alkylated, oxygenated and nitrated derivatives, in total 74 individual species, in the marine atmosphere is presented. Exposure to these substances poses a major health risk. We found very low concentrations over the Arabian Sea, while both local and long-range-transported pollution caused elevated levels over the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Gulf.
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