Detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using a high performance-single particle aerosol mass spectrometer

The real-time detection of the mixing states of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitro-PAHs in ambient particles is of great significance for analyzing the source, aging process, and health effects of PAHs and nitro-PAHs; yet there is still few effective technology to achieve this type of detection. In this study, 11 types of PAH and nitro-PAH standard samples were analyzed using a high performance-single particle aerosol mass spectrometer (HP-SPAMS) in lab studies. The identification principles ‘parent ions’ and ‘mass-to-charge (m/z) = 77’ of each compound were obtained in this study. It was found that different laser energies did not affect the identification of the parent ions. The comparative experiments of ambient atmospheric particles, cooking and biomass burning emitted particles with and without the addition of PAHs were conducted and ruled out the interferences from primary and secondary organics on the identification of PAHs. Besides, the reliability of the characteristic ions extraction method was evaluated through the comparative study of similarity algorithm and deep learning algorithm. In addition, the real PAH-containing particles from vehicle exhaust emissions and ambient particles were also analyzed. This study improves the ability of single particle mass spectrometry technology to detect PAHs and nitro-PAHs, and HP-SPAMS was superior to SPAMS for detecting single particles containing PAHs and nitro-PAHs. This study provides support for subsequent ambient observations to identify the characteristic spectrum of single particles containing PAHs and nitro-PAHs.     

双波长气溶胶粒径传感方法及其火灾烟雾探测器

提出了双波长光散射气溶胶粒径传感方法,设计实现了采用该方法的双波长火灾烟雾探测器。使用短波长和长波长的双波长光源,通过计算其光功率比值,利用其与中值粒径的关系函数获得气溶胶粒径,并根据不同粒径下的气溶胶浓度分别给出大小不同粒径的火灾烟雾或干扰气溶胶提示。因而,不仅可以有效区分大小不同粒径的火灾烟雾气溶胶,以正确探测火灾,而且能够识别微米级的大粒径干扰粒子,降低火灾误报率,可以应用于飞机等航空器空中密闭的特殊环境。     

Multilevel air quality evolution in Shenyang: Impact of elevated point emission reduction

Visibility observed at different altitudes is favorable to understand the causes of air pollution. We conducted 4-years of observations of visibility at 2.8 and 60 m and particulate matter(PM) concentrations from 2015 to 2018 in Shenyang, a provincial city in Northeast China. The results indicated that visibility increased with the increasing height in winter(especially at night), and decreased with height in summer(especially at the daytime). PM concentration exhibited opposite vertical variati...     

Aerosol transmission,an indispensable route of COVID-19 spread: case study of a department-store cluster

• Aerosol transmission is an indispensable route of COVID-19 spread. • Different outbreak sites have different epidemiologic feature. • SRAS-CoV-2 can exist for a long time in aerosol. • SRAS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected in aerosol in diverse places. • Some environmental factors can impact SARS-CoV-2 transportation in aerosol. Patients with COVID-19 have revealed a massive outbreak around the world, leading to widespread concerns in global scope. Figuring out the transmission route of COVID-19 is necessary to control further spread. We analyzed the data of 43 patients in Baodi Department Store (China) to supplement the transmission route and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in a cluster outbreak. Incubation median was estimated to endure 5.95 days (2–13 days). Almost 76.3% of patients sought medical attention immediately upon illness onset. The median period of illness onset to hospitalization and confirmation were 3.96 days (0–14) and 5.58 days (1–21), respectively. Patients with different cluster case could demonstrate unique epidemiological characteristics due to the particularity of outbreak sites. SRAS-CoV-2 can be released into the surrounding air through patient’s respiratory tract activities, and can exist for a long time for long-distance transportation. SRAS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected in aerosol in different sites, including isolation ward, general ward, outdoor, toilet, hallway, and crowded public area. Environmental factors influencing were analyzed and indicated that the SARS-CoV-2 transportation in aerosol was dependent on temperature, air humidity, ventilation rate and inactivating chemicals (ozone) content. As for the infection route of case numbers 2 to 6, 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20 and 23, we believe that aerosol transmission played a significant role in analyzing their exposure history and environmental conditions in Baodi Department Store. Aerosol transmission could occur in some cluster cases when the environmental factors are suitable, and it is an indispensable route of COVID-19 spread.     

How aerosol direct effects influence the source contributions to PM2.5 concentrations over Southern Hebei,China in severe winter haze episodes

The aerosol direct effects result in a 3%–9% increase in PM_2.5 concentrations over Southern Hebei. These impacts are substantially different under different PM_2.5 loadings. Industrial and domestic contributions will be underestimated if ignoring the feedbacks. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area is the most air polluted region in China and the three neighborhood southern Hebei cities, Shijiazhuang, Xingtai, and Handan, are listed in the top ten polluted cities with severe PM_2.5 pollution. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impacts of aerosol direct effects on air quality over the southern Hebei cities, as well as the impacts when considering those effects on source apportionment using three dimensional air quality models. The WRF/Chem model was applied over the East Asia and northern China at 36 and 12 km horizontal grid resolutions, respectively, for the period of January 2013, with two sets of simulations with or without aerosol-meteorology feedbacks. The source contributions of power plants, industrial, domestic, transportation, and agriculture are evaluated using the Brute-Force Method (BFM) under the two simulation configurations. Our results indicate that, although the increases in PM_2.5 concentrations due to those effects over the three southern Hebei cities are only 3%–9% on montly average, they are much more significant under high PM_2.5 loadings (~50 μg·m⁻³ when PM_2.5 concentrations are higher than 400 μg m⁻³). When considering the aerosol feedbacks, the contributions of industrial and domestic sources assessed using the BFM will obviously increase (e.g., from 30%–34% to 32%–37% for industrial), especially under high PM_2.5 loadings (e.g., from 36%–44% to 43%–47% for domestic when PM_2.5>400 μg·m⁻³). Our results imply that the aerosol direct effects should not be ignored during severe pollution episodes, especially in short-term source apportionment using the BFM.     

植被覆盖度与沙尘暴形成条件分析

以归一化差值植被指数（Normalized Difference Vegetation Index,NDVI）为指标分析了我国1981年到1998年期间植被覆盖变化情况,给出了植被急剧减少产生新沙源的实例。通过对1998年4月强沙尘暴的分析,指出影响沙尘暴产生和运移的因素除了地形、风速、风向、大气稳定度外,当地植被覆盖和土壤因素也是关键因素之一。并通过对植被覆盖度（NDVI）与浮尘指数（Aerosol Index）进行定量分析,发现二者之间存在明显的负相关关系,表明植被的存在可以从一定程度上抑制浮尘现象的产生。因此,在沙尘运移路径上,采取封山封荒,植树种草,增加植被覆盖度以固结当地土壤和泥沙的措施,可以在一定程度上抑制沙尘暴灾害的发生。     

Impact of meteorological condition changes on air quality and particulate chemical composition during the COVID-19 lockdown

Stringent quarantine measures during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown period (January 23, 2020 to March 15, 2020) have resulted in a distinct decrease in anthropogenic source emissions in North China Plain compared to the paralleled period of 2019. Particularly, 22.7% decrease in NO₂ and 3.0% increase of O₃ was observed in Tianjin, nonlinear relationship between O₃ generation and NO₂ implied that synergetic control of NO_x and VOCs is needed. Deteriorating meteorological condition during the COVID-19 lockdown obscured the actual PM_2.5 reduction. Fireworks transport in 2020 Spring Festival (SF) triggered regional haze pollution. PM_2.5 during the COVID-19 lockdown only reduced by 5.6% in Tianjin. Here we used the dispersion coefficient to normalize the measured PM_2.5 (DN-PM_2.5), aiming to eliminate the adverse meteorological impact and roughly estimate the actual PM_2.5 reduction, which reduced by 17.7% during the COVID-19 lockdown. In terms of PM_2.5 chemical composition, significant NO₃^? increase was observed during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, as a tracer of atmospheric oxidation capacity, odd oxygen (O_x = NO₂ + O₃) was observed to reduce during the COVID-19 lockdown, whereas relative humidity (RH), specific humidity and aerosol liquid water content (ALWC) were observed with noticeable enhancement. Nitrogen oxidation rate (NOR) was observed to increase at higher specific humidity and ALWC, especially in the haze episode occurred during 2020SF, high air humidity and obvious nitrate generation was observed. Anomalously enhanced air humidity may response for the nitrate increase during the COVID-19 lockdown period.     

Estimation of aerosol optical depth in relation to meteorological parameters over eastern and western routes of China Pakistan economic corridor

This study finds out seasonal and monthly variations in Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) over eastern and western routes of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the relationship between AOD and meteorological parameters (i.e., temperature, rainfall and wind speed). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) data was used from the terra satellite for the period of 2000-2016. This study aims to overtake the conventional view of the purpose of using the satellite datasets. This study takes on to the concept that validated satellite data sets rather should be used for the analysis instead of just validation specifically for our study region. Hence, after comparing MODIS AOD with MISR AOD, only MISR AOD dataset is used for further analysis. The results show a decreasing trend of AOD in summer season, a positive relationship between temperature and AOD during winter and spring seasons whereas a positive relationship between wind speed and AOD in winter and spring seasons over eastern and western routes. Periodic analysis of MODIS AOD and MISR AOD depicts May-Aug as the peak period of aerosol concentration over central Pakistan. The inter-annual analysis shows the aerosol trend remained higher during summer season however rainfall shows the washout effect. Eastern route has higher standard deviation and larger values for aerosol prevalence as compared to western route. The trajectory analysis using the HYSPLIT model suggests the bias of air mass trajectory caused deviation in the aerosol trend in the year 2014.     

热气溶胶灭火剂扑灭固体木垛火的实验研究

文章系统分析了热气溶胶灭火剂抑制A类火能力的影响因素,并用SQ灭火剂在全淹没条件下进行实验,研究了灭火剂用量、灭火室大小、木垛的预燃程度和木垛结构大小对灭火效果的影响规律,结果表明SQ热气溶胶灭火剂抑制A类火比B类火困难得多,此外灭火效果与木垛预燃程度、木垛的结构尺寸有关,与灭火实验所用的灭火室大小关系不大。并指出在评价热气溶胶灭火剂扑灭A类木垛火能力时,应详细给出灭火实验所采用的条件,特别是火灾模型的情况。     

气溶胶中多环芳烃的污染源识别方法

文章评述了气溶胶中多环芳烃污染源类型识别的几种方法,即:比值法、轮廓图法、特征化合物法和多元统计方法等.比值法简单可行,应用较多,但常因苯并(a)芘的不稳定性而带来误差,建议与轮廓图法、特征化合物法等配合使用,多元统计法要求样品数多,并且运算复杂,目前应用尚不多见,但其潜力很大。