Spatial and Temporal Distributions and Sources of Anthropogenic NMVOCs in the Atmosphere of China: A Review

Abstract

As the key precursors of O 3 , anthropogenic non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) have been studied intensively. This paper performed a meta-analysis on the spatial and temporal variations of NMVOCs, their roles in photochemical reactions, and their sources in China, based on published research. The results showed that both nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) and oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) in China have higher mixing ratios in the eastern developed cities compared to those in the central and western areas. Alkanes are the most abundant NMHCs species in all reported sites while formaldehyde is the most abundant among the OVOCs. OVOCs have the highest mixing ratios in summer and the lowest in winter, which is opposite to NMHCs. Among all NMVOCs, the top eight species account for 50%−70% of the total ozone formation potential (OFP) with different compositions and contributions in different areas. In devolved regions, OFP-NMHCs are the highest in winter while OFP-OVOCs are the highest in summer. Based on positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis, vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, and solvent usage in China are the main sources for NMHCs. However, the emission trend analysis showed that solvent usage and industrial emissions will exceed vehicle exhaust and become the two major sources of NMVOCs in near future. Based on the meta-analysis conducted in this work, we believe that the spatio-temporal variations and oxidation mechanisms of atmospheric OVOCs, as well as generating a higher spatial resolution of emission inventories of NMVOCs represent an area for future studies on NMVOCs in China.

Composition and Reactivity of Volatile Organic Compounds and the Implications for Ozone Formation in the North China Plain

“…C 2 -C 4 alkanes mainly originate from the use and volatilization of NG/LPG [24], indicating that volatile chemicals from oil fields in DN exerted considerable influence on VOCs. Compared with summer (14-28%), the percentage of OVOCs was significantly lower in winter (3-11%), which is consistent with the findings of other regions [25]. It was found that photochemical reactions make an important contribution to the production of carbonyls [26], indicating that the photochemical reaction rate is lower in winter than in summer due to reduced solar radiation and lower temperature.…”

The Interplay between Housing Environmental Attributes and Design Exposures and Psychoneuroimmunology Profile—An Exploratory Review and Analysis Paper in the Cancer Survivors’ Mental Health Morbidity Context

“…After the imposition of stringent stay-at-home policy, household volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentrations reached the highest values compared to other periods, as residents spent longer time in their houses while activities outside home were restarted gradually during the re-opening stage [139]. The anthropogenic VOCs emissions-related residential environments during the lockdown may have had an impact on the total ozone formation potential in different areas [140]. Besides household air pollution deriving mainly from furniture, building materials, cooking, cleaning, lighting and heating activities, engineering system defects or presence of humidity, the increased use of disinfectant products, and lack of suitable ventilation routines and mechanisms rose the indoor pollutant concentrations of dwellings during the lockdowns, constituting those unhealthy and unsustainable environments [122,[141][142][143].…”

Machine Learning Explains Long-Term Trend and Health Risk of Air Pollution during 2015–2022 in a Coastal City in Eastern China

“…Exposure to ambient particulate matter is one of the most important health risk factors [ 4 ]. It was estimated that approximately 4.2 million deaths were attributed to particulate matter air pollution all over the world in 2015 [ 1 ].These air pollutants can be generated from natural [ 5 ] and/or anthropogenic [ 6 , 7 ] sources [ 2 ]. Concentrations of air pollutants in ambient air are affected by two major factors, including emissions and meteorological conditions [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ].…”