Seasonal trends of Benzo(a)pyrene in urban suspended particulate matter of Belgrade City, Serbia

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were identified to be one of the major toxic air pollutants in urban environment. PAHs are mostly formed during incomplete combustion or pyrolysis of organic material. According to Serbian National Legislation Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) concentration in total suspended particles (TSP) in ambient air in Belgrade Metropolitan has been determined in the last ten years, as a part of local air pollution monitoring program performed by Public Health Institute of Belgrade and funded by Belgrade?s Municipality. Air samples for analysis of BaP in suspended particles have been collected (as 24h sample once per month) at selected monitoring sites within municipal air quality monitoring network. At the beginning, According to National Regulation, all samples were taken as total suspended particles (TSP). Since middle of 2008, the procedure of sampling methodology was harmonized with EU requirements and solid fraction PM10 has been collected and analyzed using GC/MS. In this study, we have analyzed results of TSP collected between 2005 and-2008. Looking through the results obtained during the period of whole year, it can be noticed that concentrations of BaP were much higher during winter season at almost all measuring sites. nema