Environmental Engineering / Çevre Mühendisliği

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11147/4321

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  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 6
    Citation - Scopus: 9
    The Effect of Military Conflict Zone in the Middle East on Atmospheric Persistent Organic Pollutant Contamination in Its North
    (Elsevier, 2023) Ayrı, İlknur; Genişoğlu, Mesut; Sofuoğlu, Aysun; Kurt Karakuş, Perihan B.; Birgül, Askın; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil
    This study aimed to investigate long-range atmospheric transport of selected POPs released due to the effects of mili-tary conflicts in regions to the south of Turkey's borders. Ten locations were selected to deploy passive air samplers at varying distances to the border on a southeast-west transect of the country, proximity-grouped as close, middle, and far. Sampling campaign included winter and transition months when desert dust transport events occur. Hypothesis of the study was that a decreasing trend would be observed with increasing distance to the border. Group comparisons based on statistical testing showed that PBDE-183, E45PCB, and dieldrin in winter; PBDE-28, PBDE-99, PBDE-154, p,p '-DDE, E14PBDE, and E25OCP in the transition period; and PBDE-28, PBDE-85, PBDE-99, PBDE-154, PBDE-190, PCB-52, E45PCB, p,p '-DDE, and E25OCP over the whole campaign had a decreasing trend on the transect. An analysis of concen-tration ratio to the background showed that long-range atmospheric transport impacted the study sites, especially those of close group in comparison to the local sources. Back-trajectory analyses indicated that there was transport from the conflict areas to sites in the close-proximity group, while farther sampling locations mostly received air masses from Europe, Russia, and former Soviet Union countries, followed by North Africa, rather than the military con-flict areas. In consequence, decrease in concentrations with distance and its relation to molecular weight through pro-portions, diagnostic ratios, analysis of concentration ratio to the background, and back-trajectory analyses support the effect of transport from the military-conflict area to its north.
  • Book Part
    The Role of Polyurethane Foam Indoors in the Fate of Flame Retardants and Other Semivolatile Organic Compounds
    (American Chemical Society, 2021) Genişoğlu, Mesut; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil; Sofuoğlu, Aysun
    Flame retardant chemicals are added to polyurethane foams (PUFs) during production. These chemicals are released to the environment during the use of PUF containing furniture or building materials. In contrast, organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, synthetic musk compounds, and volatile organic compounds could be sorbed by PUF depending on the concentration gradient, ambient temperature, and the physicochemical properties. Most of these substances tend to accumulate by adhering to organic matter in dust, particles, and surfaces, as they do not degrade for long periods of time. Sorption-emission cycles of PUF-associated organic compounds prolong their presence in indoor environments, which could increase human exposure. Since these organic compounds might have carcinogenic or chronic-toxic health effects on living organisms, it is important to understand the role of PUF in exposure to these substances in indoor environments. This chapter reviews the literature on the relationship of organic substances with PUF in indoor environments.