Deposition of soot related hydrocarbons during long-range transport of pollution to sweden

Abstract Sampling of airborne and deposited particles was carried out at a rural site on the Swedish west coast. Air particles were collected using a high volume sampler (HVS) and the deposition was sampled on a 1 m 2 Teflon-coated horizontal surface, with runoff for precipitation. During a soot episode in the north of Sweden snow samples were collected. The samples were analysed in order to identify and quantify petroleum hydrocarbons, such as aliphatics and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and to study differences in the hydrocarbon content of airborne and deposited particles. The measured hydrocarbons in deposition and air were compared with the soot concentrations in the air. The analyses showed that deposition of great quantities of hydrocarbons with anthropogenic origin takes place, especially during soot episodes. There exists a qualitative difference in the hydrocarbon content in airborne and deposited particulates. There is a covariation between the concentration of soot in the air and the deposition of especially PAH, but also to some extent the total hydrocarbons.