PAHs and Petroleum Markers in the Atmospheric Environment of Alexandria City,Egypt

To evaluate the chemical fingerprint of hydrocarbons in airborneorganic matter in the arid environment of Alexandria City, Egypt,the compositions of aliphatic and aromatic compounds were determined in suspended particulate material collected from a street undergoing heavy traffic in central Alexandria and in bulkdeposition samples collected from a site representing an area increasingly influenced by human and industrial activities. Qualitative and quantitative characterizations of individual compounds were based on gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analyses. More than 100 organic compounds are quantified in each sample, including n-alkanes, isoprenoids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), sulfur-bearing heterocyclics, steranes/diasteranes, terpanes and aromatic steroids. The use of hydrocarbon profilesand ratios for identifying sources and processes is discussed.The molecular distribution of alkanes revealed that the mainsource of these compounds is from petroleum contamination withtrace input of vascular plant wax. The PAH profiles, especiallythe relative abundance of alkyl-PAHs and sulfur-containing heterocyclics, showed that PAHs are chiefly derived from trafficsources. The results further indicated that diesel vehicles aremore important PAH sources than gasoline vehicles. In addition,the source fingerprint of fossil fuel biomarkers such as steranes, terpanes and aromatic steroids agreed well with thefingerprint of unburned lubricating oil, which are probably contributed to vehicle exhaust emissions.