AIRBORNE PCDD/F PROFILES IN RURAL AND URBAN AREAS OF BUENOS ARES PROVINCE, ARGENTINA.

CAPPELLETTI N. ; ASTOVIZA M. J.; MIGOYA M.C.; COLOMBO J.C.

San Pablo

Simposio; 35th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants, Dioxin; 2015

Atmospheric emissions are the main source pathway in the biogeochemical cycle of Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated-dibenzo furans (PCDD/Fs) emphasizing the requirement of air monitoring studies to evaluate the current status and potential risk of these compounds. This information is very scarce in South America and is normally focused on large metropolitan areas, i.e. San Pablo, Brazil. In this context, passive air samplers (PAS) are alternative low-cost and low-maintenance sampling devices for semi-quantitative measurement of POPs in air1 that have been validated for the Stockholm Convention Global Monitoring Program 2.Buenos Aires Province in Argentina (~300000 km2) concentrates 39% of population and 36% of gross production of the country with an important industrial sector (petrochemical, iron and steel, automotive) and a vast development of agriculture and livestock. The large Metropolitan area includes the autonomous capital city of Buenos Aires and densely populated adjacent Municipalities constituting the second urban agglomeration of South America (~13 million inhabitants; ~4000 km2) yet there are no atmospheric PCDD/F measurements in this area. In this work we evaluate atmospheric PCDD/F concentrations and compositional patterns in rural, urban and industrial sites of Buenos Aires province to identify hot spots and potential sources through the detailed analysis of homologues profiles.