Abstract
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is one of the main socioeconomic and financial centers of Vietnam. The city also faces serious air pollution. However, the city polluted with benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) has rarely been studied. We used positive matrix factorization (PMF) to analyze BTEX concentrations measured at two sampling locations to identify the main sources of BTEX in HCMC. The locations represented residential area (i.e., To Hien Thanh) and industrial area (i.e., Tan Binh Industrial Park). At the To Hien Thanh location, the average concentrations of benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylene were 6.9, 14.4, 4.9, and 12.7 µg/m3, respectively. At the Tan Binh location, the average concentrations of benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylene were 9.8, 22.6, 2.4, and 9.2 µg/m3, respectively. The results showed that PMF was a reliable model for source apportionment in HCMC. Traffic activities were the main sources of BTEX. Besides, industrial activities also contributed to BTEX emissions, especially the location near the industrial park. The majority of BTEXs at the To Hien Thanh sampling site come from traffic sources accounting for 56.2%. Activities from traffic and photochemical reactions (42.7%) and industrial sources (40.5%) were the main sources affecting BTEX emissions at the sampling site of Tan Binh Industrial Park. This study can be used as a reference for mitigation solutions to reduce the BTEX emission in HCMC.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This research is funded by the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) under grant number B2021-24-02.
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This research is funded by the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) under Grant Number B2021-24-02.
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All authors contributed to the study's conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were conducted by NVS and TTN. Data analysis was performed by HNKV and HQB. The first draft of the manuscript was written by NVS and TTNH, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Nguyen, V.S., Vu, H.N.K., Nguyen, T.T. et al. Identify Primary Air Pollution Sources of BTEX by Using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF): A Case Study of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 85, 263–276 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-023-01002-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-023-01002-4