Chemical compositions of PM2.5 aerosol during haze periods in the mountainous city of Yong'an, China

Haze phenomena were found to have an increasing tendency in recent years in Yong'an, a mountainous industrial city located in the center part of Fujian Province, China. Atmospheric fine particles (PM_2.5) in the urban area during haze periods in three seasons (spring, autumn and winter) from 2007 to 2008 were collected, and the mass concentrations and chemical compositions (seventeen elements, water soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs) and carbonaceous species) of PM_2.5 were determined. PM_2.5 mass concentrations did not show a distinct difference among the three seasons. The carbonaceous species organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) constituted up to 19.2%-30.4% of the PM_2.5 mass during sampling periods, while WSIIs made up 25.3%-52.5% of the PM_2.5 mass. The major ions in PM_2.5 were SO₄^2-, NO₃^- and NH₄⁺, while the major elements were Si, K, Pb, Zn, Ca and Al. The experimental results (from data based on three haze periods with a 10-day sampling length for each period) showed that the crustal element species was the most abundant component of PM_2.5 in spring, and the secondary ions species (SO₄^2-, NO₃^-, NH₄⁺, etc.) was the most abundant component in PM_2.5 in autumn and winter. This indicated that dust was the primary pollution source for PM_2.5 in spring and combustion and traffic emissions could be the main pollution sources for PM_2.5 in autumn and winter. Generally, coal combustion and traffic emissions were considered to be the most prominent pollution sources for this city on haze days.