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Structural equation modeling of PAHs in ambient air, dust fall, soil, and cabbage in vegetable bases of Northern China.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Zhang, YunHui 
Hou, DeYi 
Xiong, GuanNan 
Duan, YongHong 
Cai, ChuanYang 

Abstract

A series of field samples including ambient air (gaseous and particulate phases), dust fall, surface soil, rhizosphere soil and cabbage tissues (leaf, root and core), were collected in vegetable bases near a large coking manufacturer in Shanxi Province, Northern China, during a harvest season. A factor analysis was employed to apportion the emission sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and the statistical results indicated coal combustion was the dominant emission source that accounted for different environmental media and cabbage tissues, while road traffic, biomass burning and the coking industry contributed to a lesser extent. A structural equation model was first developed to quantitatively explore the transport pathways of PAHs from surrounding media to cabbage tissues. The modeling results showed that PAHs in ambient air were positively associated with those in dust fall, and a close relationship was also true for PAHs in dust fall and in surface soil due to air-soil exchange process. Furthermore, PAHs in surface soil were correlated with those in rhizosphere soil and in the cabbage leaf with the path coefficients of 0.83 and 0.39, respectively. PAHs in the cabbage leaf may dominantly contribute to the accumulation of PAHs in the edible part of cabbages.

Description

Keywords

Air-soil exchange, Cabbage tissues, Factor analysis, PAHs, Structural equation modeling, Air, Brassica, China, Dust, Environmental Monitoring, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Soil

Journal Title

Environ Pollut

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0269-7491
1873-6424

Volume Title

239

Publisher

Elsevier BV