Characterization of organic particulates in the air of Pancevo (Serbia).

The organic fraction associated to airborne particulates of Pan?evo, Serbia, was characterized from July 2006 to March 2007 at 5 sites suffering different degrees of pollution. n-Alkanes resulted to be associated principally to anthropogenic sources. Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations in winter were ca. one order of magnitude higher than in the rest of the year and also exceeded those usually detected in Western and Central Europe. Looking to Nitro-PAHs, their behavior in the industrial district was peculiar when compared to the other locations and showed features typical of direct emission rather than secondary formation. The identified highly-polar chemicals revealed the existence of plasticizers and petroleum manufacture/combustion sources, (e.g., benzenesulfonamides or heterocyclic sulfonamides like AZA, respectively). Nicotine and caffeine occurred at levels typical of the cities. The air contamination from polychlorinated organics seemed to have a special concern. At this regard, two major compounds were detected in the industrial district, tentatively identified as diisocyanobenzyl alcohol chloride and diisocyanophenylacetyl chloride. Moreover, the same site appeared heavily affected by polychlorobenzenes and polychlorotoluenes, and held trace of polychlorobiphenyls.