Seasonal Characteristics of the Chemical Composition of Fine Particles in Residences of Nanjing, China

Abstract

Indoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and its chemical composition is important for human exposure as people spend most of their time indoors. However, few studies have investigated the multiseasonal characteristics of indoor PM2.5 and its chemical composition in China. In this study, the chemical composition of PM2.5 samples in residences was analyzed over four seasons in Nanjing, China. Indoor water-soluble ions exhibited similar seasonal variations (winter > autumn > summer > spring) to those from outdoors (winter > autumn > spring > summer) except in summer. Whereas, indoor metallic elements exhibited a different seasonal pattern from that of outdoors. The highest concentrations of indoor metallic elements were observed in summer when the outdoor concentrations were low. The different seasonal variations of the chemical composition between indoor and outdoor PM2.5 indicated that people should consider both indoor and outdoor sources to reduce their exposure to air pollutants in different seasons. The carcinogenic risks for metallic elements were within the acceptable levels, while manganese (Mn) was found to have potential noncarcinogenic risk to humans. More attention should be paid to the pollution of Mn in the study area in the future. Moreover, the cumulative effect of noncarcinogenic PM2.5-bound elements should not be ignored.

Pollution Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in PM<sub>2.5</sub> during Winter in the Suburb of Cangzhou, China

“…Mn is the main contributor to the non-carcinogenic risk of heavy metals, which may cause harmful health effects on the human body (Zheng et al, 2020). The EF value of Mn in this study was less than 10, indicating that Mn mainly originated from crustal sources and that natural sources such as dust may also increase the non-carcinogenic risk to humans (Cao et al, 2019;Duan et al, 2021).…”