Molecular Compositions and Sources of Organic Aerosols from Urban Atmosphere in the North China Plain during the Wintertime of 2017

Abstract

PM 2.5 samples were collected from Liaocheng, a typical city in the North China Plain, during a winter haze episode around 2017 Chinese Spring Festival (Lunar New Year, LNY) to investigate the impact of firework on organic aerosols. A comparison of PM 2.5 concentrations during different periods, with different air mass origins, and under different pollution situations was done. Organic compounds including normal alkanes (n-alkanes), polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), saccharides, and organic acids in PM 2.5 aerosols were determined by GC/MS. Sources were analyzed by diagnostics ratios and principal component analysis/multiple linear regression (PCA/MLR) model. The results showed that fireworks burning has significant impacts on fine particle pollution. During the haze period, a sharp increase in n-alkanes, PAHs, saccharides, and fatty acids were observed, but the influence of fireworks burning on n-alkanes concentration is minor. The concentrations of carcinogenic PAHs during haze and LNY periods were more than three times higher than those in the clean period, indicating that PAHs were more carcinogenic during the two periods. In addition, the estimated ILCR for children and adults were both about three times higher than those in the clean periods, suggesting a moderate potential carcinogenic risk in Liaocheng. The higher concentration and the dominance of levoglucoan in the total saccharides suggested that the biomass burning is the predominance source of saccharides. Both the ratios of C 18:1 /C 18:0 and BaP/BeP were the highest during the haze period, indicating that aerosols in the haze period were more oxidized. According to the source precise molecular tracers and the PCA-MLR model, coal combustion, biomass burning, and vehicle emissions were the major sources of organic compounds in PM 2.5 aerosols during the winter in Liaocheng, cooking activity and firework burning had impact on organic aerosols obviously during LNY. Our data provided first analysis of the molecular distributions and sources of organic aerosols during Chinese Spring Festival in Liaocheng and their potential effects on human health.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Atmospheric PM2.5 during Winter Haze in Huang-gang, Central China: Characteristics, Sources and Health Risk Assessment

“…The average concentration of ∑16PAHs during haze episode was 25.6 ± 12.0 ng m -3 , which was similar to the annual average concentration of ∑16PAHs in Wuhan in 2014 (Zhang et al, 2019a), and was much lower than those in northern China, such as Liaocheng (Liu et al, 2019a),…”

“…The concentration of PM2.5 ranged from 30.7 μg m -3 to 196 μg m -3 , with an average concentration of 110.4 ± 48.3 μg m -3 in WHZ, which was 11 times of the World Health Organization (WHO) safe level (10 μg m -3 ), and 1.47 times the severe pollution level (75 μg m -3 , NAAQS, GB 3095-2012), indicating that Huang-gang was suffering from relatively serious air pollution. Compared with other cities, the concentration of PM2.5 was lower than those reported in northern China, such as Beijing (Cao et al, 2018), Liaocheng in Shandong Province (Liu et al, 2019a), whereas, higher than those in southern cities, like Guangzhou (Tan et al, 2011), Wuhan (Zhang et al, 2019b). The highest concentration of PM2.5 occurred in MHZ evening (16 January and 20 January).…”

Molecular Characteristics and Formation Mechanisms of Biogenic Secondary Organic Aerosols in the Summer Atmosphere at Mt. Tai on the North China Plain

“…These comparisons suggested that the photochemical oxidation was much stronger in the daytime because of the stronger solar irradiation and higher temperature (Hegde and Kawamura, 2012;Meng et al, 2018). As a significant tracer for biomass burning (Liu et al, 2019), levoglucosan concentration was 22.0 ± 18.0 ng m -3 , which was 20 times lower than that in the biomass-burning period of 2006 (May-June: 425 ng m -3 (Fu et al, 2008); early June: 403 ng m -3 (Fu et al, 2012)) at Mt. Tai.…”

Association of Climate-related Total Atmospheric Energy Anomalies in the Tibetan Plateau with Haze in Eastern China

“…The vast range of anomalous warmth in the lower troposphere can prevent the vertical dispersion of pollutants (Renhe et al, 2014;Chen and Wang, 2015). High emissions of primary particles and gaseous particulate matter (PM) precursors from multiple sources have commonly been identified as one of the main factors regulating the frequency and severity of haze formation (Guo et al, 2014;Huang et al, 2014;Shang et al, 2018;Yu et al, 2018;Liu et al, 2019). Since developed regions with rapid industrialization and urbanization and high pollutant emissions are mainly centred in northern China, including Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze River Delta (An et al, 2019), the thermal stable atmosphere induced by TPE anomalies may have more amplified effects in northern China than in southern China.…”