Qualitatively and quantitatively, we have demonstrated that airborne polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations in the air surrounding New Bedford Harbor (NBH) are caused by its water PCB emissions. We measured airborne PCBs at 18 homes and businesses near NBH in 2015, with values ranging from 0.4 to 38 ng m-3, with a very strong Aroclor 1242/1016 signal that is most pronounced closest to the harbor and reproducible over three sampling rounds. Using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) water PCB data from 2015 and local meteorology, we predicted gas-phase fluxes of PCBs from 160 to 1200 μg m-2 day-1. Fluxes were used as emissions for AERMOD, a widely applied U.S. EPA atmospheric dispersion model, to predict airborne PCB concentrations. The AERMOD predictions were within a factor of 2 of the field measurements. PCB emission from NBH (110 kg year-1, average 2015) is the largest reported source of airborne PCBs from natural waters in North America, and the source of high ambient air PCB concentrations in locations close to NBH. It is likely that NBH has been an important source of airborne PCBs since it was contaminated with Aroclors more than 60 years ago.

中文翻译：

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从新贝德福德港释放出空气中的多氯联苯会导致周围空气浓度升高。

定性和定量研究表明，新贝德福德港（NBH）周围空气中的空气中多氯联苯（PCB）浓度是由水中PCB排放引起的。我们在2015年对NBH附近18个家庭和企业中的机载PCB进行了测量，其值范围从0.4到38 ng m-3，具有非常强的Aroclor 1242/1016信号，最明显的是离港口最近的信号，并且在三个采样周期内都可以重现。利用美国环境保护局（US EPA）2015年的水PCB数据和当地气象数据，我们预测了PCB的气相通量范围为160-1 1200μgm-2 day-1。通量被用作AERMOD（一种广泛应用的美国EPA大气扩散模型）的排放量，以预测机载PCB的浓度。AERMOD的预测是现场测量值的2倍以内。NBH的PCB排放量（110千克，年1，2015年平均）是报告的北美天然水域中最大的空气传播PCB来源，也是NBH附近环境空气中PCB浓度高的来源。自从六十多年前NBH被Aroclors污染以来，它可能一直是机载PCB的重要来源。