Abstract. Atmospheric hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and organic hydroperoxides were measured from 18 to 30 July in 2006 during the PRIDE-PRD'06 campaign at Backgarden, a rural site located 48 km north of Guangzhou, a mega-city in southern China. A ground-based instrument was used as a scrubbing coil collector to sample ambient air, followed by on-site analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with post-column derivatization and fluorescence detection. The H 2 O 2 mixing ratio over the 13 days ranged from below the detection limit to a maximum of 4.6 ppbv, with a mean (and standard deviation) of (1.26±1.24) ppbv during the daytime (08:00-20:00 LT). Methyl hydroperoxide (MHP), with a maximum of 0.8 ppbv and a mean (and standard deviation) of (0.28±0.10) ppbv during the daytime, was the dominant organic hydroperoxide. Other organic peroxides, including bis-hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide (BHMP), peroxyacetic acid (PAA), hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide (HMHP), 1-hydroxy-ethyl hydroperoxide (1-HEHP) and ethyl hydroperoxide (EHP), were detected occasionally. The concentration of H 2 O 2 exhibited a pronounced diurnal variation on sunny days, with a peak mixing ratio in the afternoon (12:00-18:00 LT), but lacked an explicit diurnal cycle on cloudy days. Sometimes a second peak mixing ratio of H 2 O 2 was observed during the evening, suggesting that H 2 O 2 was produced by the ozonolysis of Correspondence to: Z. M. Chen (zmchen@pku.edu.cn) alkenes. The diurnal variation profile of MHP was, in general, consistent with that of H 2 O 2 . The estimation indicated that in the morning the H 2 O 2 detected was formed mostly through local photochemical activity, with the rest probably attributable to vertical transport. It is notable that relatively high levels of H 2 O 2 and MHP were found in polluted air. The unexpectedly high level of HO 2 radicals detected in this region can account for the production of hydroperoxides, while the moderate level of NO x suppressed the formation of hydroperoxides. High concentrations of hydroperoxides were detected in samples of rainwater collected in a heavy shower on 25 July when a typhoon passed through, indicating that a considerable mixing ratio of hydroperoxides, particularly MHP, resided above the boundary layer, which might be transported on a regional scale and further influence the redistribution of HO x and RO x radicals. It was found that hydroperoxides, in particular H 2 O 2 , play an important role in the formation of secondary sulfate in the aerosol phase, where the heterogeneous reaction might contribute substantially. A negative correlation between hydroperoxides and water-soluble organic compounds (WSOC), a considerable fraction of the secondary organic aerosol (SOA), was observed, possibly providing field evidence for the importance of hydroperoxides in the formation of SOA found in previous laboratory studies. We suggest that hydroperoxides act as an important link between sulfate and organic aerosols, which needs further study and should be considered in cu...

Abstract. Recent studies indicate that isoprene and its gasphase oxidation products could contribute a considerable amount of aerosol through aqueous-phase acid-catalyzed oxidation with hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), although the source of H 2 O 2 is unclear. The present study revealed a potentially important route to the formation of aqueous oxidants, including H 2 O 2 , from the aqueous-phase ozonolysis of methacrolein (MAC) and methyl vinyl ketone (MVK). Laboratory simulation was used to perform the atmospheric aqueous-phase ozonolysis at different pHs and temperatures. Unexpectedly high molar yields of the products, including hydroxylmethyl hydroperoxide (HMHP), formaldehyde (HCHO) and methylglyoxal (MG), of both of these reaction systems have been seen. Moreover, these yields are almost independent of pH and temperature and are as follows: (i) for MAC-O 3 , 70.3±6.3% HMHP, 32.3±5.8% HCHO and 98.6±5.4% MG; and (ii) for MVK-O 3 , 68.9±9.7% HMHP, 13.3±5.8% HCHO and 75.4±7.9% MG. A yield of 24.2±3.6% pyruvic acid has been detected for MVK-O 3 . HMHP is unstable in the aqueous phase and can transform into H 2 O 2 and HCHO with a yield of 100%. We suggest that the aqueous-phase ozonolysis of MAC and MVK can contribute a considerable amount of oxidants in a direct and indirect mode to the aqueous phase and that these compounds might be the main source of aqueous-phase oxidants. The formation of oxidants in the aqueous-phase ozonolysis of MAC and MVK can lead to substantial aerosol formation from the aqueous-phase acid-catalyzed reaction of H 2 O 2 with MAC, even if there are no other sources of oxidants.

Abstract. Peroxyacetic acid (PAA) is one of the most important atmospheric organic peroxides, which have received increasing attention for their potential contribution to the oxidation capacity of the troposphere and the formation of secondary aerosols. We report here, for the first time, a series of data for atmospheric PAA concentrations at urban and rural sites, from five field campaigns carried out in China in summer 2006, 2007 and 2008. For these five measurements, daytime mean (08:00-20:00 LT) PAA concentrations on sunlit days were 21.4-148.0 pptv with a maximum level of ∼1 ppbv. The various meteorological and chemical parameters influencing PAA concentrations were examined using Principal Factor Analysis. This statistical analysis shows that the local photochemical production was the major source of PAA, and its concentration increased with increasing temperature, solar radiation and ozone but decreased with increasing NO x (NO and NO 2 ), CO, SO 2 , and relative humidity. Based on the dataset, several issues are highlighted in this study: (i) Because PAA is a product from the photochemical oxidation of some specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that lead to acetyl peroxy radicals, the importance of various VOCs with respect to the PAA formation is therefore ranked using the incremental reactivity method. (ii) The contribution of PAN thermal degradation to PAA formation under conditions of different NO x concentrations is estimated based on the chemical kinetics analysis. The result shows that PAN seems to play an important role in the formation of PAA when the NO/NO 2 concentration ratio was less than 0.2 and PAA would correspondingly have feedback on the PAN-NO x cycle. (iii) PAA and other peroxides, such as methyl Correspondence to: Z. M. Chen (zmchen@pku.edu.cn) hydroperoxide (MHP) and H 2 O 2 , usually exhibited a similar asymmetric shape typically shifted to the afternoon. However, under some conditions, H 2 O 2 diurnal cycle was out of phase with MHP and PAA. The combination of linear regression and kinetics analysis indicate that the formation and removal processes of H 2 O 2 may be different from those of MHP and PAA. (iv) Considering that PAA is the reservior of free radicals, its fate is expected to have an effect on the free radical budget in the atmosphere. A box model based on the CBM-IV mechanism has been performed to access its influence on the radical budget. We suggest that the detailed information on PAA in the atmosphere is of importance to better understand the free radical chemistry.