The Air Quality, Characterization of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon, Organic Carbon, and Diurnal Variation of Particulate Matter over Riyadh City

Abstract

Concentrations of airborne particulate matter (PM10 & PM2.5) were measured over a period extended from January 2012 to October 2013 at two sites: a suburban area, Riyadh airport (AP) and an urban area, King Fahd road district (KF) (densely trafficked site) in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. The quality of ambient air using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Air Quality Index (AQI) was evaluated during this period. The average AQI values exceeded 100 on 6 months out of 11 in AP district. At KF district the condition was worse, and AQI values exceeded 100 on all months. This emphasizes the fact that PM concentrations over Riyadh can be regarded as a real environmental problem that could be a severe risk to quality of life and threaten human health. A higher-volume air sampler at the two sites was used to collect particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) for chemical analysis of the PM for PAHs and total organic carbon. At KF station the mean concentrations’ values of total PAHs in PM2.5 and PM10 were 4.89 ng/m 3 and 12.96 ng/m 3 respectively. At the AP station the corresponding values of total PAHs in PM2.5 and PM10 were 8.07 ng/m 3 and 11.91 ng/m 3 respectively. The PAHs did not exceed the air criteria of World Health Organization indicating the air pollution of PAHs in Riyadh District was not serious. As for the total organic carbon the results demonstrated that the concentration ranged from 0.211 to 0.506 g/kg at KF station and from 0.054 to 0.342 g/kg at AP station. On an annual basis, OC concentrations were two times higher for the city center site (KF) compared to the rural AP site. This can most likely be explained by increased emissions from higher traffic at KF site. The diurnal variability of PM was mainly associated with the severity of pollution.