Morphology and composition of particles emitted from a port fuel injection gasoline vehicle under real-world driving test cycles

Traffic vehicles, many of which are powered by port fuel injection(PFI) engines, are major sources of particulate matter in the urban atmosphere. We studied particles from the emission of a commercial PFI-engine vehicle when it was running under the states of cold start, hot start, hot stabilized running, idle and acceleration, using a transmission electron microscope and an energy-dispersive X-ray detector. Results showed that the particles were mainly composed of organic, soot, and Ca-rich particles, with a small amount of S-rich and metal-containing particles, and displayed a unimodal size distribution with the peak at 600 nm. The emissions were highest under the cold start running state, followed by the hot start, hot stabilized, acceleration, and idle running states. Organic particles under the hot start and hot stabilized running states were higher than those of other running states. Soot particles were highest under the cold start running state. Under the idle running state, the relative number fraction of Ca-rich particles was high although their absolute number was low. These results indicate that PFI-engine vehicles emit substantial primary particles,which favor the formation of secondary aerosols via providing reaction sites and reaction catalysts, as well as supplying soot, organic, mineral and metal particles in the size range of the accumulation mode. In addition, the contents of Ca, P, and Zn in organic particles may serve as fingerprints for source apportionment of particles from PFI-engine vehicles.

Cell concentration,viability and culture composition of airborne bacteria during a dust event in Beijing

Airborne bacteria were measured when a dust storm passed Beijing in spring 2012 with a focus on cell concentration, viability and TSA- and R2A-cultured strain composition. The concentration varied at an order of 10^7 cells/m3 with dust loading （demonstrated with PM10） and they had a very close correlation （RT2 = 0.91, p 〈 0.01）. At the time of highest PM10 of 652 μg/m3, the bacterial concentration reached 1.4 × 10^8 cells/m3, which was larger than that before and after the dust event by one order. Bacterial viability, the ratio of number concentration of viable cells to total cells, was 32%-64% and smaller in the dust plume than that before the dust arrival. Bacterial strains from the culture ranged between 2.5 × 10^4 and 4.6 × 10^5 CFU/m3 and no correlation with PM10 was determined. Their composition was different before and after the dust arrival according to 16S rRNA gene sequences and strains belong to Actinomycetes and Firmicutes were the majority in the dust samples.

Applicability of LIVE/DEAD BacLight stain with glutaraldehyde fixation for the measurement of bacterial abundance and viability in rainwater

Rainwater contains substantial bacteria and rain is an efficient pathway for the dissemination of bacteria from the atmosphere to land and water surfaces.However,quantitative information on rainwater bacteria is very limited due to the lack of a reliable method.In this study,the epifluorescence microscopy enumeration with the LIVE/DEAD BacLight Bacterial Viability Kit stain was verified to quantify the abundance of viable and non-viable bacterial cells in rainwater,with the 4＇,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole（DAPI） stain for the reference of total cell counts.Results showed that the total counts of bacterial cells by LIVE/DEAD BacLight staining were consistent with those by DAPI staining,and the average detection efficiency was（109 ± 29）%.The ratio of cell count with glutaraldehyde fixation to that without fixation was（106 ± 5）%on average.The bacterial concentration in negative control was usually an order of magnitude lower than that in rainwater samples.However,in case of small precipitation,the abundance in negative control could be more than that in rainwater samples.These results indicate that the enumeration with LIVE/DEAD BacLight bacterial viability assay coupled with glutaraldehyde fixation and careful negative control investigation is an approach applicable to the measurement of the concentration and viability of bacterial cells in rainwater.

Size and elemental composition of dry-deposited particles during a severe dust storm at a coastal site of Eastern China

Dry-deposited particles were collected during the passage of an extremely strong dust storm in March, 2010 at a coastal site in Qingdao（36.15°N, 120.49°E）, a city located in Eastern China. The size, morphology, and elemental composition of the particles were quantified with a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray instrument（SEM–EDX）. The particles appeared in various shapes, and their size mainly varied from 0.4to 10 μm, with the mean diameters of 0.5, 1.5, and 1.0 μm before, during, and after the dust storm, respectively. The critical size of the mineral particles settling on the surface in the current case was about 0.3–0.4 μm before the dust storm and about 0.5–0.7 μm during the dust storm. Particles that appeared in high concentration but were smaller than the critical size deposited onto the surface at a small number flux. The elements Al, Si and Mg were frequently detected in all samples, indicating the dominance of mineral particles. The frequency of Al in particles collected before the dust storm was significantly lower than for those collected during and after the dust storm. The frequencies of Cl and Fe did not show obvious changes, while those of S, K and Ca decreased after the dust arrival. These results indicate that the dust particles deposited onto the surface were less influenced by anthropogenic pollutants in terms of particle number.

Characteristics of dry deposited mineral particles associated with weather conditions in the adjacent sea areas of East China during a cruise in spring 2011

Dry deposited particles, larger than 1.3 μm, were collected under clear, cloudy, and foggy conditions during a cruise, traversing the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea from 23 March to 8 April 2011. In these areas, air masses are influenced by pollution outflows from the Asian continent. The size and elemental composition of dry deposited particles were investigated using a scanning electron microscope. Number-size distributions of these particles were approximately lognormal. Under clear conditions, the mode size was about 5.0 μm, with a mean diameter of 6.9 μm. Under cloudy and foggy conditions, the mean diameters were 5.7 and 6.0 μm, respectively, but the mode sizes were vague. Non-mixed mineral particles, sea salt, and mixed mineral-sea salt particles were the major particle types. Correspondingly, Al and Si were the most frequently detected elements. Frequencies of K-, Ca-, and S-containing particles were highest under foggy conditions, while the frequency of Na-containing particles was lowest. These results indicate that fog favored sulfate production on the particles and led to the deposited mineral particles more abundant in secondary salt, suggesting the importance to consider the dependence of the comoosition of deoosited mineral narticles on weather as well as narticle size.

Charging states on atmospheric aerosol particles affected by meteorological conditions

Previous studies on haze formation focused mainly on the various chemical components in aerosol particles and their physicochemical effects on particle behaviour(e.g.,generation,growth,and agglomeration).This paper describes the measurement of the charging state on atmospheric aerosol particles,which could be affected by meteorological conditions.A series of experiments on particle charging state and meteorological factors was undertaken on the roof of the west 4th building on the Qujiang Campus at Xi'an Jiaotong University(China).Measurements were conducted approximately 20 m above ground level,Our results showed that most atmospheric particles carried net negative or positive charge and that the electric charge on the particles varied diurnally and seasonally.The average amount of charge on particles was higher in winter than in summer.The number concentration of charged particles was higher during the day than overnight.Obvious difference in the average charge of aerosol particles was found between sand-dust days and haze days.A strong relationship was found between the PM2.s concentration,charge amount on particles,and humidity.Our findings show that particle formation and growth could partly be attributed to variation in particle charging state,which is related to meteorological conditions including atmospheric humidity.

Surrogate atmospheric dust particles generated from dune soils in laboratory: Comparison with field measurement

Desert dust strongly influences the climate and the environment by altering the radiation budget, participating in atmospheric chemical reactions, and engaging the biogeochemical cycle. Studying its impacts requires knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of the original particles from the source origin. Unfortunately, the field collection of atmospheric samples in the desert is impractical. Fine surface soil is thus considered an alternative material from which to obtain the information applicable to dust particles from the desert soil. In this study, a laboratory system was set up to generate dust particles with simulated natural wind erosion processes from surface soils or directly from desert surfaces. Surface soils and field dust were simultaneously collected during a local blowing dust event. The comparison between the laboratory-generated dust and the field dust showed a consistent trend in particle size distribution and chemical composition. The chemical compositions were found to have explainable differences with the Certified Reference Materials for Asian dust (CJ-2). The laboratory-generated dust particles with the system could be applied as surrogates for soil-emitted dust in desert areas.

Identification of coexistence of biological and non-biological aerosol particles with DAPI (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) stain

The fluorescent dye 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) has been widely used to stain microorganisms in various environment media. We applied DAPI fluorescence enumeration to airborne microorganisms and found that non-biological particles, including organic compounds, minerals, and soot, were also visible upon exposure to UV excitation under fluorescence microscope. Using laboratory-prepared biological particles as the control, we investigated the feasibility of identifying both biological and non-biological particles in the same sample with DAPI staining. We prepared biological (bacterial, fungi, and plant detritus) and non-biological (biochar, soot, mineral, metal, fly ash, salt) particles in the laboratory and enumerated the particles and their mixture with DAPI. We found that mineral particles were transparent, and biochar, soot, metals and fly ash particles were black under a filter set at excitation 350/50 nm and emission 460/50 nm bandpass (DAPI-BP), while biological particles were blue, as expected. Particles of the water-soluble salts NaCl and (NH_(4))_(2)SO_(4) were yellow under a filter set at excitation 340–380 nm and emission 425 nm long pass (DAPI-LP). Case studies with samples of dustfall, atmospheric aerosols and surface soils could allow for the quantification of the relative number of different types of particles and particles with organic matter or salt coating as well. Fluorescence enumeration with DAPI stain is thus able to identify the co-existence of biological and non-biological particles in the air, at least to the extent of those examined in this study.