Evidence for the transformation of polycyclic organic matter in the atmosphere

Mechanical and kinetic study on gas-phase formation of dinitro-naphthalene from 1- and 2-nitronaphthalene

Nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have received an increasing number of considerations because of their higher mutagens than parent PAHs. In this paper, the formation of dinitro-naphthalene was investigated mechanistically using 1- and 2-nitronaphthalene as precursors with the aid of high-accuracy quantum chemistry calculation. The geometrical parameters, as well as vibrational frequencies, were calculated at the BB1K/6-31+G(d,p) level. Water molecule plays an important role in the formation of dinitro-naphthalene. The rate constants were deduced by canonical variational transition-state theory with small curvature tunneling contribution over the temperature range of 273-333 K. Meanwhile, the Arrhenius formulas were fitted for the OH addition of both 1- and 2-nitronaphthalene. The calculated overall rate constants for 1-nitronaphthalene and 2-nitronaphthalene at 298 K and 1 atm are 7.43 × 10(-13) and 7.48 × 10(-13) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), respectively. The rate constants of NO3 addition to 1-nitronaphthalene and 2-nitronaphthalene by RRKM method at 298 K and 1 atm are 3.55 × 10(-15) and 3.47 × 10(-15) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), respectively. This study provides a comprehensive investigation of the formation process of dinitro-naphthalenes, initiated by OH and NO3 radicals and should facilitate to illuminate its atmospheric source. Oxygen may probably be competitive with the second NO2 addition step when the concentration of NO2 is at low level.

Atmospheric formation of hydroxynitropyrenes from a photochemical reaction of particle-associated 1-nitropyrene

The formation of hydroxynitropyrene (OHNP) via a photochemical reaction of 1-nitropyrene (1-NP) was demonstrated using a UV irradiation system. The photoreaction of 1-NP in methanol gave products that were hydroxy-substituted at position 1 and mononitro-substituted at positions 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 [1-hydroxy-x-nitropyrenes (1-OH-x-NPs); x = 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8]. 1-OH-2-NP and 1-OH-5-NP have been identified in ambient airborne particles for the first time. On the contrary, these two OHNP isomers were not found in standard reference materials (SRM) 1650b and SRM 1975, which are typical samples of diesel exhaust particles (DEPs). The concentrations of the other OHNP isomers in the DEP samples were much lower than the concentration of 1-NP, which is a representative nitro-derivative polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that is emitted directly from combustion sources. On the other hand, significantly higher concentration ratios of ∑OHNP (=1-OH-3-NP + 1-OH-6-NP + 1-OH-8-NP) to 1-NP were observed in ambient airborne particles than in the DEP samples. In ambient airborne particles, the mean ∑OHNP/1-NP concentration ratio of 1.4 was 35 times higher than that in SRM 1650b and 470 times higher than that in SRM 1975. The diurnal concentration of 1-NP, which was observed at a typical residential area in Osaka, Japan, increased early in the morning and late in the evening, suggesting that automotive emissions contributed to the occurrence of 1-NP. The OHNP concentrations also rose in the morning, and variations of OHNP concentrations similar to those of 1-NP were observed during the daytime. However, the concentrations of OHNPs did not increase in the evening rush hour, and were low at night, i.e., in the absence of sunlight. These results support the idea that atmospheric OHNPs are predominantly formed via secondary formation processes; i.e., photochemical reactions of 1-NP are expected to have a significant effect on the occurrence of OHNPs in the atmosphere.

Sources and seasonal variability of mutagenic agents in the Barcelona City aerosol

Organic extracts (dichloromethane) isolated from airborne particulate matter, collected in two sampling sites located in the Barcelona City, were mutagenic in the Salmonella typhimurium (TA98 +/-S9) bioassay. The highest direct-acting mutagenicity (69-78 rev m-3) was detected during fall and spring, which corresponds to the highest levels of mutagenic nitroarenes (248 to 350 pg m-3). On the other hand, the highest level of indirect-acting mutagenicity was obtained in summer, paralleling with the highest concentrations of polycyclic aromatic ketones and polycyclic aromatic quinones. Furthermore, the sources of PAH in the urban particulate matter were estimated from the ratio of the less reactive components (i.e. benzofluranthenes/benzo[e]pyrene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene/benzo[ghi]perylene, methylphenantherenes/phenanthrene) and reflected a predominance of pyrolytic mobile sources (i.e. vehicular emissions). Nevertheless, a contribution of stationary sources in winter was also apparent. Finally, the seasonal variability of polycyclic aromatic ketones, quinones, aromatic lactones and aldehydes reflected a major contribution of the atmospheric transformation processes from related PAH rather than a direct emission from combustion sources.