Monitoring atmospheric levels and deposition of dioxin-like pollutants in sub-alpine Northern Italy

Javier Castro-Jiménez (1) , S J Eisenreich (2) , G. Mariani (2) , H. Skejo (2) , G. Umlauf (2)

1 IDAEA - Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research
2 IES - JRC Institute for Environment and Sustainability

The objective of this work was to assess the atmospheric occurrence, seasonal variations and deposition of dioxin-like pollutants (17 PCDD/Fs þ 12 DL-PCBs) in sub-alpine northern Italy. A total of 108 weekly integrated samples (aerosol þ gas phases) were collected during a 1-year period (2005e2006) at the Ispra EMEP site (Northern Italy, 45 49 0 N, 8 38 0 E). Atmospheric loadings into Lake Maggiore were also estimated by implementing a deposition model. P 2,3,7,8-PCDD/F atmospheric total concentrations were dominated by the aerosol-bound fraction which ranged from 50 to 3080 (1e215 WHO 98 TEQ) fg m À3. In contrast DL-PCB levels were dominated by the gas phase concentrations and varied from 1800 to 14800 (1e5 WHO 98 TEQ) fg m À3. The aerosol and gas phase concentrations of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs exhibited a similar seasonality (higher values in winter time for aerosol-bound contaminants and lower concentrations for gas phase contaminants) in spite of their different environmental sources and properties. Estimated total atmospheric (dry þ wet) depositional fluxes of dioxin-like pollutants in sub-alpine northern Italy were w0.2ew9.5 ng m À2 d À1 , with wet deposition dominating. Total atmospheric inputs (2,3,7,8-PCDD/Fs þ DL-PCBs) into Lake Maggiore ranged from 14 to 304 g y À1. Higher environmental concentrations of dioxin-like pollutants in sub-alpine northern Italy are expected in the cold season and in rainy days due to a combined effect of stagnant atmospheric conditions (low winds), household wood burning in the region and higher pollutant loads via rainfall in winter.

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement; Autre

Javier Castro-Jiménez, S J Eisenreich, G. Mariani, H. Skejo, G. Umlauf. Monitoring atmospheric levels and deposition of dioxin-like pollutants in sub-alpine Northern Italy. Atmospheric Environment, 2012, 56, pp.194-202. ⟨10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.03.081⟩. ⟨hal-02080851⟩