Characterization of Both MTBE and BTEX in the Ambient Air of Night Markets in Southern Taiwan

Received: November 1, 2005
Revised: November 1, 2005
Accepted: November 1, 2005
Download Citation: RIS|BibTeX|https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2005.12.0003  

Cite this article:
Hsieh, L.T., Yang, H.H. and Chen, H.W. (2005). Characterization of Both MTBE and BTEX in the Ambient Air of Night Markets in Southern Taiwan. Aerosol Air Qual. Res. 5: 154-170. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2005.12.0003

ABSTRACT

To characterize concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at the night markets in southern Taiwan, four representative night markets and one background location were selected for this study. The VOCs measured included methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) and BTEX (the acronym for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene). The results indicated that the measured concentrations of MTBE and BTEX were typically on the order of one to two times higher at night market level than at the background site. It is clear that the night market activities in all sampling sites affected the distribution of MTBE and BTEX. During non-night market activities, the average MTBE-BTEX ratios of Liu-Ho, Rui-Guang, Ping-Tung and Chao-Zhou were (13.9: 2.2: 10.1: 1.0: 6.1), (4.9: 3.8: 13.7: 1.0: 7.9), (10.3: 1.7: 8.2: 1.0: 3.9) and (87.4: 10: 46: 1.0: 9.1), respectively. However, during the night market activities, the average MTBE-BTEX ratios shifted to (27.4: 1.9: 21.9: 1.0: 4.3), (23.1: 3.9: 16.5: 1.0: 3.2), (38.6: 6.8: 30.1: 1.0: 14.9), and (38.6: 7.8: 24.3: 1.0: 5.1), respectively.

Keywords: BTEX; VOCs; Correlation; MTBE; Night market