Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Halocarbons at a Mountaintop in Southern China

Abstract

In this study, 45 ambient samples were collected in the summer of 2011 and spring of 2012 on Mount Lushan. The concentrations and seasonal distributions of aromatic hydrocarbons and halocarbons were measured and discussed. Moderate concentrations of individual species were found compared with other mountain sites; however, the measured concentrations were much lower than the values reported in cities. For aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene and m/p-xylene were the most abundant species in the spring, while benzene and toluene exhibited the largest contributions in the summer. For halocarbons, the concentrations of 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, dichlorodifluoromethane and chloromethane were higher than other gases measured in the spring; and dichlorodifluoromethane and chloromethane contributed largest in the summer. The OH loss rates demonstrated that 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene were the dominant aromatic hydrocarbons for OH loss rates in the spring, while styrene and toluene contributed the largest to reactivity in the summer. For the ozone formation potential (OFP), 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene and m/p-xylene accounted for the largest fraction of the OFPs in the spring (24.3% and 23.7%), while toluene was the most abundant source of OFP (i.e., 43.7%) in the summer. M/p-xylene exhibited large contributions to OFP in both spring and summer (23.7% and 19.2%) of the OFPs. The T/B (0.80 and 0.73 in spring and summer respectively) ratios indicated that the sampled air masses were primarily influenced by automotive emissions. The 36-h backward trajectories of the sampled air masses and the corresponding daily concentrations of individual species suggested that long-range transport had a large effect on the atmosphere at the sampling site.

Source Apportionment of Air Pollution and Characteristics of Volatile Organic Compounds in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant, North Taiwan

“…Ozone is a secondary pollutant that is generated in photochemical reactions which are often more toxic than (Yang et al, 2016). Table 4 lists speciated VOCs and their OFPs.…”

Characteristics of Summertime Volatile Organic Compounds in the Lower Free Troposphere: Background Measurements at Mt. Fuji

“…The outdoor levels of p-DCB range from 0.01 to 1 ppb and are much lower than its indoor levels (ATSDR, 2006). More recently, Yang et al (2016) reported summertime concentrations of 0.60, 0.02, and 0.08 ppb for R-150, R-150a, and p-DCB, respectively, at the top of Lushan, a mountain in China. Although R-150, R-150a, and p-DCB have been observed in both background and urban atmosphere, no reliable estimates of their global emissions or inventories are available to date (Carpenter et al, 2014).…”

“…Measurements have been obtained using aircrafts (Blake et al, 1996;Bechara et al, 2008;Baker et al, 2010) and tethered balloons (Helmig et al, 1998;Spirig et al, 2004) operated at different heights. Ground-based measurements of VOCs at high-altitude stations have also been conducted in various locations, such as North America (Swanson et al, 2003;Khwaja and Narang, 2008;Burley et al, 2016), Europe (Karl et al, 2001;Li et al, 2005;Helmig et al, 2008;Lanz et al, 2009;Lo Vullo et al, 2016a, b), Africa (Schmitt and Volz-Thomas, 1997), East Asia (Sharma et al, 2000;Suthawaree et al, 2010;Xue et al, 2013;Yang et al, 2016), and Hawaii (Greenberg et al, 1992(Greenberg et al, , 1996 the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Yearlong and multiple-year measurements of tropospheric ozone Dokiya et al, 2001), water-soluble ions from aerosol samples (Suzuki et al, 2008), and rainwater ) have been successfully obtained at the FRS.…”

Influence of Cloud/Fog on Atmospheric VOCs in the Free Troposphere: A Case Study at Mount Tai in Eastern China

“…The details of the analytical procedures of VOCs have been described previously by Yang et al (2016) and will be described here briefly.…”

“…Research on VOCs in the high mountains is of great significance to the study of global temporal and spatial variation of VOCs. Studies now have been performed on the concentration characteristics, seasonal and diurnal variations and source identification of VOCs at the summit of some mountains in China (Tang et al, 2007;Tang et al, 2008;Zhang et al, 2014;Yang et al, 2016).…”