The characteristics of PM2.5 in Beijing,China

Weekly PM_2.5 samples were simultaneously collected at a residential (Tsinghua University) and a downtown (Chegongzhuang) site in Beijing from July 1999 through September 2000. The ambient mass concentration and chemical composition of the PM_2.5 were determined. Analyses included elemental composition, water-soluble ions, and organic and elemental carbon. Weekly PM_2.5 mass concentrations ranged from 37 to 357 μg/m³, with little difference found between the two sites. Seasonal variation of PM_2.5 concentrations was significant, with the highest concentration in the winter and the lowest in the summer. Spring dust storms had a strong impact on the PM_2.5. Overall, organic carbon was the most abundant species, constituting no less than 30% of the total PM_2.5 mass at both sites. Concentrations of organic and elemental carbon were 35% and 16% higher at Tsinghua University than at Chegongzhuang. Ammonium, nitrate and sulfate were comparable at the sites, accounting for 25–30% of the PM_2.5 mass.     

Characterization and contribution to PM2.5 of semi-volatile aerosols in Paris (France)

Collocated PM_2.5 measurements using a conventional R&P TEOM (model 1400a) and a TEOM-FDMS were performed at a Paris urban background site during winter/summer field experiments. Results showed that conventional TEOM underestimates PM_2.5 mass concentrations by about 50% in winter and 35% in summer. They also confirmed that this negative sampling artifact, due to the volatilization of semi-volatile material (SVM) inside the instrument, cannot be accurately accommodated by a single correction factor because of SVM routine fluctuations. A basic filter-based investigation of the SVM chemical composition also indicated that SVM, measured by the TEOM–FDMS, is mainly formed by ammonium nitrate in winter while significant contributions of semi-volatile organic matter were observed in summer. The latter species was found to possibly account for more than 50% of secondary organic aerosol formed during summer afternoons. These findings call for more investigation of the SVM chemical composition, particularly during the summer season, in Paris and in Europe.     

Using geographically temporally weighted regression to assess the contribution of corruption governance to global PM2.5

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the face of the global haze crisis, exploring the driving force of political factors for controlling minute atmospheric particles has become...     

Mechanisms of cardiovascular toxicity induced by PM2.5: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - An increasing number of studies have shown that exposure to particulate matter with a diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5) could affect the onset and...     

2015年南京市PM2.5与PM10的污染特征

分析了2015年南京市PM2.5和PM10的浓度特征和大致来源类型。PM2.5和PM10的年均浓度分别为56.6 μg·m-3和96.5 μg·m-3,污染水平较高。颗粒物浓度的季节变化特征一致：冬 > 春 > 秋 > 夏;PM2.5的日变化呈"单峰单谷"型,而PM10的呈"单峰双谷"型。颗粒物浓度在城区高于郊区;植被茂盛区域的浓度较低。对PM2.5/PM10而言,比值在冬季和梅雨期较大,分别受取暖和降水的影响;比值在春季和夏末秋初较小,分别受沙尘和秸秆焚烧的影响。PM2.5多为二次颗粒物,PM10多为一次颗粒物;固定污染源对PM2.5的间接贡献和对PM10的直接贡献较移动污染源而言更大。     

The water-soluble ionic composition of PM2.5 in Shanghai and Beijing,China

A year-long field study to characterize the ionic species in PM2.5 was carried out in Shanghai and Beijing, China, in 1999–2000. Weekly samples of PM2.5 were collected using a special low flow rate (0.4 l min⁻¹) sampler. In Shanghai, SO₄²⁻ NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺ were the dominant ionic species, which accounted for 46%, 18% and 17% of the total mass of ions, respectively. Local SO₂ emissions were an important source of SO₄²⁻ in PM2.5 because the SO₄²⁻ concentration was correlated with the SO₂ concentration (r=0.66). The relatively stable SO₄²⁻/SO₂ mass ratio over a large range of temperatures suggests that gas-phase oxidation of SO₂ played a minor role in the formation of SO₄²⁻. The sum of SO₄²⁻ and NO₃⁻ was highly correlated with NH₄⁺ (r=0.96), but insufficient ammonium was present to totally neutralize the aerosol. In Beijing, SO₄²⁻, NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺ were also the dominant ionic species, constituting 44%, 25% and 16% of the total mass of water-soluble ions, respectively. Local SO₂ emissions were an important source of SO₄²⁻ in the winter since SO₄²⁻ was correlated with SO₂ (r=0.83). The low-mass SO₄²⁻/SO₂ ratio (0.27) during winter, which had low humidity, suggests that gas-phase oxidation of SO₂ was a major route of sulfate formation. In the summer, however, much higher mass ratios of SO₄²⁻/SO₂ (5.6) were observed and were ascribed to in-cloud sulfate formation. The annual average ratio of NO₃⁻/SO₄²⁻ was 0.4 and 0.6 in Shanghai and in Beijing, respectively, suggesting that stationary emissions were still a dominant source in these two cities.     

Effects of green spaces on alleviating mortality attributable to PM2.5 in China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Increasing research suggested that green spaces are associated with many health benefits, but evidence for the quantitative relationship between green...     

Pollution characteristics and toxic effects of PM1.0 and PM2.5 in Harbin,China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In 2019, PM2.5 and PM1.0 samples were collected in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, China, to research their mass concentration, number...     

关于PM2.5的综述

综述了大气PM25的来源,样品采集分析,化学组成,病毒机理,对人类健康和大气能见度的影响,以及国内外的研究进展.     

Characterization of carbonaceous species of ambient PM2.5 in Beijing, China

One-week integrated fine particulate matter (i.e., particles <2.5 microm in diameter; PM2.5) samples were collected continuously with a low-flow rate sampler at a downtown site (Chegongzhuang) and a residential site (Tsinghua University) in Beijing between July 1999 and June 2000. The annual average concentrations of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) at the urban site were 23.9 and 8.8 microg m(-3), much higher than those in some cities with serious air pollution. Similar weekly variations of OC and EC concentrations were found for the two sampling sites with higher concentrations in the winter and autumn. The highest weekly variations of OC and EC occurred in the winter, suggesting that combustion sources for space heating were important contributors to carbonaceous particles, along with a significant impact from variable meteorological conditions. High emissions coupled with unfavorable meteorological conditions led to the max weekly carbonaceous concentration the week of November 18-25, 1999. The weekly mass ratios of OC:EC ranged between 2 and 4 for most samples and averaged 2.9, probably suggesting that secondary OC (SOC) is present most weeks. The range of contemporary carbon fraction, based on the C14 analyses of eight samples collected in 2001, is 0.330-0.479. Estimated SOC accounted for approximately 38% of the total OC at the two sites. Average OC and EC concentrations at Tsinghua University were 25% and 18%, respectively, higher than those at Chegongzhuang, which could be attributed to different local emissions of primary carbonaceous particles and gaseous precursors of SOC, as well as different summer photochemical intensities between the two locations.     

Identification of dicarboxylic acids and aldehydes of PM10 and PM2.5 aerosols in Nanjing,China

In this study aerosol samples of PM10 and PM2.5 collected from 18 February 2001 to 1 May 2001 in Nanjing, China were analyzed for their water-soluble organic compounds. A series of homologous dicarboxylic acids (C_2–10) and two kinds of aldehydes (methylglyoxal and 2-oxo-malonaldehyde) were detected by GC and GC/MS. Among the identified compounds, the concentration of oxalic acid was the highest at all the five sites, which ranged from 178 to 1423 ng/m³. The second highest concentration of dicarboxylic acids were malonic and succinic acids, which ranged from 26.9 to 243 ng/m³. Higher level of azelaic acid was also observed, of which the maximum was 301 ng/m³. As the highest fraction of dicarboxylic acids, oxalic acid comprised from 28% to 86% of total dicarboxylic acids in PM10 and from 41% to 65% of total dicarboxylic acids in PM2.5. The dicarboxylic acids (C₂, C₃, C₄) together accounted for 38–95% of total dicarboxylic acids in PM10 and 59–87% of dicarboxylic acids in PM2.5. In this study, the total dicarboxylic acids accounted for 2.8–7.9% of total organic carbon (TOC) of water-soluble matters for PM10 and 3.4–11.8% of TOC for PM2.5. All dicarboxylic acids detected in this study together accounted for about 1% of particle mass. The concentration of azelaic acid was higher at one site than others, which may be resulted from higher level of volatile fat used for cooking. The amounts of dicarboxyic acids (C_2,3,4,9) and 2-oxo-malonaldehyde of PM2.5 were higher in winter and lower in spring. Compared with other major metropolitans in the world, the level of oxalic acid concentration of Nanjing is much higher, which may be contributed to higher level of particle loadings, especially for fine particles.     

Characterization of Carbonaceous Species of Ambient PM2.5 in Beijing,China

Abstract

One-week integrated fine particulate matter (i.e., particles <2.5 μm in diameter; PM_2.5) samples were collected continuously with a low-flow rate sampler at a downtown site (Chegongzhuang) and a residential site (Tsinghua University) in Beijing between July 1999 and June 2000. The annual average concentrations of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) at the urban site were 23.9 and 8.8 μg m^?3, much higher than those in some cities with serious air pollution. Similar weekly variations of OC and EC concentrations were found for the two sampling sites with higher concentrations in the winter and autumn. The highest weekly variations of OC and EC occurred in the winter, suggesting that combustion sources for space heating were important contributors to carbonaceous particles, along with a significant impact from variable meteorological conditions. High emissions coupled with unfavorable meteorological conditions led to the max weekly carbonaceous concentration the week of November 18–25, 1999. The weekly mass ratios of OC:EC ranged between 2 and 4 for most samples and averaged 2.9, probably suggesting that secondary OC (SOC) is present most weeks. The range of contemporary carbon fraction, based on the C14 analyses of eight samples collected in 2001, is 0.330–0.479. Estimated SOC accounted for ～38% of the total OC at the two sites. Average OC and EC concentrations at Tsinghua University were 25% and 18%, respectively, higher than those at Chegongzhuang, which could be attributed to different local emissions of primary carbonaceous particles and gaseous precursors of SOC, as well as different summer photochemical intensities between the two locations.     

Evidence for a significant contribution of wood burning aerosols to PM2.5 during the winter season in Paris,France

Although particulate emissions from residential wood burning have become a subject of great scientific concern for a few years, data related to their impact on the air quality of large European urban centres are still missing. In the present study, we investigated the chemical and optical properties of fine (PM_2.5) carbonaceous aerosols in Paris during the 2005 winter season in order to track the presence of wood burning emissions in such a large city. The use of a seven wavelength Aethalometer allowed us to document shortwave light absorption by brown-carbon-containing organic aerosols of biomass burning origin. In particular, a well-marked diurnal pattern of the spectral dependence of light absorption, with maxima during the night, could be observed every day of the campaign and attributed to wood burning emissions. Relatively high absorption Ångstrom exponents and WSOC/OC ratios (respectively 1.25 and 0.35 on average for the period of study) also indicated the importance of biomass burning aerosols in the Paris atmosphere in winter. Finally, a rough estimate of the contribution of wood burning carbonaceous aerosols to PM_2.5 could be achieved. This contribution was found to be as high as 20 ± 10% on average at the Paris background site investigated here.     

Comparison of PM2.5 carbon measurement methods in Hong Kong, China

Samples from Hong Kong, China, were analyzed for organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and total carbon (TC) by three thermal protocols (low-temperature IMPROVE and high-temperature STN and NIOSH) and two optical monitoring methods: reflectance and transmittance. Good agreement (+/-10%) for TC among the three protocols was observed for sample loadings of 1-55 microg m(-3). The two protocols using a reflectance pyrolysis correction showed best agreement for EC, with <20% differences found for approximately 80% of the samples. Hong Kong has a large diesel fleet, and for some heavily loaded samples the light transmittance was too low for quantitative detection, resulting in large uncertainties in the OC/EC split based on transmittance. Hong Kong experienced OC levels similar to those at US sites, but has much higher EC concentrations. OC/EC ratios range from 2 to 5 at two US sites and from 0.2 to 1.2 at three Hong Kong sites.     

西安市2013年PM_(2.5)浓度变化分析研究

全面分析2013年西安市13个国控环境空气质量自动监测子站PM2.5监测数据。结果表明:2013年西安市环境空气中PM2.5年均值为105μg/m3,超过《环境空气质量标准》(GB 3095—2012)二级要求(35μg/m3)200.0%,污染较严重;西安市各子站PM2.5月均值总体呈两边高、中间低的"V"型趋势,全市及各子站PM2.5月均值分别为44~206、32~275μg/m3;采暖期(上半年采暖期为1—3月,下半年采暖期为11—12月)、非采暖期(4—10月)PM2.5平均值分别为156、70μg/m3;上、下半年采暖期PM2.5平均值分别为178、124μg/m3;西安市气象风力以微风为主,雨天集中在5—9月,期间PM2.5月均值小于80μg/m3。     

Windblown dust contributes to high PM2.5 concentrations

The revised National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM include fine particulate standards based upon mass measurements of PM2.5. It is possible in arid and semi-arid regions to observe significant coarse mode intrusion in the PM2.5 measurement. In this work, continuous PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0 were measured during several windblown dust events in Spokane, WA. PM2.5 constituted approximately 30% of the PM10 during the dust event days, compared with approximately 48% on the non-dusty days preceding the dust events. Both PM10 and PM2.5 were enhanced during the dust events. However, PM1.0 was not enhanced during dust storms that originated within the state of Washington. During a dust storm that originated in Asia and impacted Spokane, PM1.0 was also enhanced, although the Asian dust reached Washington during a period of stagnation and poor dispersion, so that local sources were also contributing to high particulate levels. The "intermodal" region of PM, defined as particles ranging in aerodynamic size from 1.0 to 2.5 microns, was found to represent a significant fraction of PM2.5 (approximately 51%) during windblown dust events, compared with 28% during the non-dusty days before the dust events.     

The characterization of water-soluble inorganic ions in PM2.5 during a winter period in Xi'an,China

The characteristics of water-soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs) during a winter period in a suburb of Xi'an, China, were investigated. Our results show that the total mass concentration of the dominant WSIIs (8) was 91.27 µg m^–3, accounting for 50.1% of the total mass concentration of PM_2.5 (particulates with a size of 2.5 µm or less). Secondary inorganic aerosols (SO₄^2?, NO₃^? and NH₄⁺) were the most abundant ions, accounting for up to 95.12% of the total ions. By using the anion and cation equivalence ratio method, PM_2.5 was shown to have weak alkalinity, and the chemical forms of WSIIs were mainly (NH₄)₂SO₄ and NH₄NO₃. The sulfur oxidation ratio (SOR) and nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR) suggested that larger proportions of SO₄^2? and NO₃^? were formed by gas-phase SO₂ and NO₂ in the sampling site. Ratio analysis also indicated that anthropogenic sources significantly contributed to WSII pollution. Among the anthropogenic sources, fixed pollution sources were found to be dominant over mobile sources.     

Using CALINE dispersion to assess vehicular PM2.5 emissions

This paper explores the range of CALINE4's PM_2.5 modeling capabilities by comparing previously collected PM_2.5 data with CALINE4 predicted values. Two sampling sites, a suburban site located at an intersection in Sacramento, CA, and an urban site located in London, were used. Predicted concentrations are graphed against observed concentrations and evaluated against the criterion that 75% of the points fall within the factor-of-two prediction envelope. For the suburban site, data estimated by CALINE4 produced results that fell within the acceptable factor-of-two percentage envelope. A reverse dispersion test was also conducted for the suburban site using observed and calculated emission factors, and although it showed correlations between the observed values and CALINE4 predicted values, it could not conclusively prove that the model is accurate at predicting PM_2.5 concentrations. Although the results suggest that CALINE4 PM_2.5 predictions may be reasonably close to observed values, the number of observations used to verify the model was small and consequently, findings from the suburban site should be considered exploratory. For the urban site, a much larger data set was evaluated; however, the CALINE4 results for this site did not fall 75% within the factor-of-two envelope. Several factors, including street canyon effects, likely contributed to an inaccuracy of the emission factors used in CALINE4, and therefore, to the overall CALINE4 predictions. In summary, CALINE4 does not appear to perform well in densely populated areas and differences in topography may be a decisive factor in determining when CALINE4 may be applicable to modeling PM_2.5. For critical transportation projects requiring PM_2.5 analysis, use of CALINE4 may not be optimal because of its inability to produce reasonable estimates for highly trafficked areas. Additional data sets for CALINE4 analysis, particularly in urban environments, are required to fully understand CALINE4's PM_2.5 modeling capabilities.