The Relationship between Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Heavy Metals

Heavy metals and pahs in flue gas have received considerable attention in recent years due to their mutagenic or carcinogenic properties. pah, are products of incomplete combustion of carbonaceous compounds at high temperatures. heavy metals are released in to the ambient air from the same sources as those earlier mentioned for pahs. the present study was carried out to investigate the influence of the quantity of heavy metals on pahs formation in ambient air.methods: in this study, air particulates were collected on glass fiber filters using a high- volume air sampler. each filter was exactly cut into equal pieces. one piece was digested with hno3 as well as h2o2 and used fordetermin ation of heavy metals. another piece was extracted using soxhlet method. the latter was used for the determination of pahs. the concentrations of heavy metals (cr, cd, cu, pb, and zn) were measured using perkin- elmer atomic absorption spectrometer. the concentration of pahs was measured by a pu4400 gas chromatograph equ ipped with flo detector. the concentrations of pahs and heavy metals were determined in different seasons.results: the results showed that the concentr ation of pahs was minimum in the weekend and holidays, but maximum in winter. the relationship between ambient air concent rations of pahs and heavy metals was investigated and an excellent agreem ent was found . the genera l trend of variations in concentration of heavy metals were found very similar to pahs, therefore it could be concluded that the so urce of pollution was the same for both of pollutants.conclusion: the general trend of variations in concentration of heavy metals was found very similar to pahs , therefore it could be concluded that the source of pollution was the same for both of pollut ants.