Perfluoroalkyl substances in food contact materials: preliminary investigation in Vietnam and global comparison.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of concerned persistent toxic substances, especially for their application or unintentional formation in food contact materials (FCMs). However, information about the occurrence, sources, and fate of these pollutants in food packaging materials from Vietnam as well as Southeast Asian countries is probably still obscured. In this study, levels of 13 perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and 4 sulfonates (PFSs) were determined in various types of food packaging samples collected from Vietnamese markets. Generally low concentrations of total 17 PFASs (median 0.341; max 624 ng/g) suggested that these compounds were mainly inadvertently produced rather than intentionally added to the packaging materials. A few mochi paper tray samples had relatively high PFAS levels (372-624 ng/g), which were dominated by long-chain (C8-C12) PFCAs. A comprehensive and updated overview of PFASs in FCMs from different countries in the world was also provided. Current database could not provide conclusive trends of PFAS concentrations and profiles in FCMs between continents and countries. The highest levels up to ppm were reported for PFCAs (e.g., PFBA, PFHxA, PFOA, and PFDA) and several fluorotelomer alcohols and carboxylic acids, while PFSs were almost absent in FCMs. FPASs can emit from FCMs, migrate to food, and then contribute to dietary exposure in humans and animals. Additional investigations on the occurrence, sources, behavior and fate, and impacts of PFASs in FCMs are critically needed, especially in emerging and developing countries.

Application of WRF-Chem to simulate air quality over Northern Vietnam.

The WRF-Chem (Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry) model is implemented and validated against ground-based observations for meteorological and atmospheric variables for the first time in Northern Vietnam. The WRF-Chem model was based on HTAPv2 emission inventory with MOZCART chemical-aerosol mechanism to simulate atmospheric variables for winter (January) and summer (July) of 2014. The model satisfactorily reproduces meteorological fields, such as temperature 2 m above the ground and relative humidity 2 m above the ground at 45 NCHMF meteorological stations in January, but lower agreement was found in those simulations of July. PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in January showed good temporal and spatial agreements to observations recorded at three CEM air monitoring stations in Phutho, Quangninh, and Hanoi, with correlation coefficients of 0.36 and 0.59. However, WRF-Chem model was underestimated with MFBs from - 27.9 to - 118.7% for PM10 levels and from - 34.2 to - 115.1% for PM2.5 levels. It has difficulty in capturing day-by-day variation of PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations at each station in July, but MFBs were in the range from - 27.1 to - 40.2% which is slightly lower than those in January. It suggested that further improvements of the model and local emission data are needed to reduce uncertainties in modeling the distribution of atmospheric pollutants. Assessment of biomass burning emission on air quality in summer was analyzed to highlight the application aspect of the WRF-Chem model. The study may serve as a reference for future air quality modeling using WRF-Chem in Vietnam.

Chemical characterization and source apportionment of ambient nanoparticles: a case study in Hanoi, Vietnam.

PM0.1 has been believed to have adverse short- and long-term effects on human health. However, the information of PM0.1 that is needed to fully evaluate its influence on human health and environment is still scarce in many developing countries. This is a comprehensive study on the levels, chemical compositions, and source apportionment of PM0.1 conducted in Hanoi, Vietnam. Twenty-four-hour samples of PM0.1 were collected during the dry season (November to December 2015) at a mixed site to get the information on mass concentrations and chemical compositions. Multiple linear regression analysis was utilized to investigate the simultaneous influence of meteorological factors on fluctuations in the daily levels of PM0.1. Multiple linear regression models could explain about 50% of the variations of PM0.1 concentrations, in which wind speed is the most important variable. The average concentrations of organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), water-soluble ions (Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, Na+, NH4+, Cl-, NO3-, SO42-, C2O42-), and elements (Be, Al, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Mo, Cd, Sb, Ba, Tl, Pb, Na, Fe, Mg, K, and Ca) were 2.77 ± 0.90 µg m-3, 0.63 ± 0.28 µg m-3, 0.88 ± 0.39 µg m-3, and 0.05 ± 0.02 µg m-3, accounting for 51.23 ± 9.32%, 11.22 ± 2.10%, 16.28 ± 2.67%, and 1.11 ± 0.94%, respectively. A positive matrix factorization model revealed the contributions of five major sources to the PM0.1 mass including traffic (gasoline and diesel emissions, 46.28%), secondary emissions (31.18%), resident/commerce (12.23%), industry (6.05%), and road/construction (2.92%).

Emission Characteristics of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Nitro-Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Open Burning of Rice Straw in the North of Vietnam.

This research investigated the distribution and contribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs) bound to particulate matter (PM) emitted from open burning of rice straw (RS) into the atmosphere in the north of Vietnam. The experiments were conducted to collect PM2.5 and total suspended particulates (TSP) prior to and during burning in the period of 2016-2018 in suburban areas of Hanoi. Nine PAHs and 18 NPAHs were determined using the HPLC-FL system. The results showed that the proportion of RS burning seasonally affects the variation of PAHs emission in atmospheric environment. The levels of nine PAHs from RS burning were 254.4 ± 87.8 µg g-1 for PM2.5 and 209.7 ± 89.5 µg g-1 for TSP. We observed the fact that, although fluoranthene (Flu) was the most abundant PAH among detected PAHs both in PM2.5 and TSP, the enrichment of Flu in TSP from burning smoke was higher than that in PM2.5 while the contribution of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and indeno[1,2,3- cd]pyrene (IDP) in PM2.5 from burning smoke were much higher than those in TSP. This research found that 1-nitropyrene (1-NP) and 6-nitrochrysene (6-NC) emit from RS burning with the same range with those from wood burning. The 2-nitrofluorene (2-NF) and 2-nitropyrene (2-NP) released from RS burning as the secondary NPAHs. This research provides a comprehensive contribution characterization of PAHs and NPAHs in PM with different size emitted from traditional local rice straw burning in the north of Vietnam. The results help to clarify the environmental behavior of toxic organic compounds from RS burning in Southeast Asia.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in particulates emitted by motorcycles.

We determined eleven PAHs and four NPAHs in particulates and regulated pollutants (CO, CO2, HC, NOx, PM) exhausted from motorcycles to figure out the characteristics of motorcycle exhausts. Fluoranthene and pyrene accounted for more than 50% of the total detected PAHs. Among four detected NPAHs, 6-nitrochrysene and 7-nitrobenz[a]anthracene were the predominant NPAHs and were highly correlated relationship with their parent PAHs (R = 0.93 and 0.97, respectively). The PM and HC emissions tended to be close to the PAH emissions. NOx and NPAHs were negatively correlated. Despite their small engine size, motorcycles emitted much more PM and PAHs, showed stronger PAH-related carcinogenicity and indirect-acting mutagenicity, but weaker NPAH-related direct-acting mutagenic potency than automobiles. This is the first study to analyze both PAHs and NPAHs emitted by motorcycles, which could provide useful information to design the emission regulations and standards for motorcycles such as PM.