Size distributions and sources of elements in particulate matter at curbside,urban and rural sites in Beijing

Size distributions of 29 elements in aerosols collected at urban,rural and curbside sites in Beijing were studied.High levels of Mn,Ni,As,Cd and Pb indicate the pollution of toxic heavy metals cannot be neglected in Beijing.Principal component analysis （PCA） indicates 4 sources of combustion emission,crust related sources,traffic related sources and volatile species from coal combustion.The elements can be roughly divided into 3 groups by size distribution and enrichment factors method （EFs）.Group 1 elements are crust related and mainly found within coarse mode including Al,Mg,Ca,Sc,Ti,Fe,Sr,Zr and Ba;Group 2 elements are fossil fuel related and mostly concentrated in accumulation mode including S,As,Se,Ag,Cd,Tl and Pb;Group 3 elements are multi-source related and show multi-mode distribution including Be,Na,K,Cr,Mn,Co,Ni,Cu,Zn,Ga,Mo,Sn and Sb.The EFs of Be,S,Cr,Co,Ni,Cu,Ga,Se,Mo,Ag,Cd,Sb,Tl and Pb show higher values in winter than in summer indicating sources of coal combustion for heating in winter.The abundance of Cu and Sb in coarse mode is about 2–6 times higher at curbside site than at urban site indicating their traffic sources.Coal burning may be the major source of Pb in Beijing since the phase out of leaded gasoline,as the EFs of Pb are comparable at both urban and curbside sites,and about two times higher in winter than that in summer.

Size distribution, characteristics and sources of heavy metals in haze episod in Beijing

Size segragated samples were collected during high polluted winter haze days in 2006 in Beijing, China. Twenty nine elements and 9 water soluble ions were determined. Heavy metals of Zn, Pb, Mn, Cu, As, Cr, Ni, V and Cd were deeply studied considering their toxic effect on human being. Among these heavy metals, the levels of Mn, As and Cd exceeded the reference values of National Ambient Air Quality Standard （GB3095-2012） and guidelines of World Health Organization. By estimation, high percentage of atmospheric heavy metals in PM2.5 indicates it is an effective way to control atmospheric heavy metals by PM2.5 controlling. Pb, Cd, and Zn show mostly in accumulation mode, V, Mn and Cu exist mostly in both coarse and accumulation modes, and Ni and Cr exist in all of the three modes. Considering the health effect, the breakthrough rates of atmospheric heavy metals into pulmonary alveoli are： Pb （62.1%） 〉 As （58.1%） 〉 Cd （57.9%） 〉 Zn （57.7%） 〉 Cu （55.8%） 〉 Ni （53.5%） 〉 Cr （52.2%） 〉 Mn （49.2%） 〉 V （43.5%）. Positive matrix factorization method was applied for source apportionment of studied heavy metals combined with some marker elements and ions such as K, As, SO42- etc., and four factors （dust, vehicle, aged and transportation, unknown） are identified and the size distribution contribution of them to atmospheric heavy metals are discussed.

Ambient volatile organic compounds pollution in China

Owing to rapid economic and industrial development, China has been suffering from degraded air quality and visibility. Volatile organic compounds （VOCs） are important precursors to the formation of ground-level ozone and hence photochemical smog. Some VOCs adversely affect human health. Therefore, VOCs have recently elicited public concern and given new impetus to scientific interest. China is now implementing a series of polices to control VOCs pollution. The key to formulating policy is understanding the ambient VOCs pollution status. This paper mainly analyzes the species, levels, sources, and spatial distributions of VOCs in ambient air. The results show that the concentrations of ambient VOCs in China are much higher than those of developed countries such as the United States and Japan, especial benzene, which exceeds available standards. At the same time, the ozone formation potential （OFP） and secondary organic aerosol formation potential （SOAFP） of various VOCs are calculated. Aromatics and alkenes have much higher OFPs, while aromatics have higher SOAFP. The OFPs of ambient VOCs in the cities of Beijing, Guangzhou and Changchun are very high, and the SOAFP of ambient VOCs in the cities of Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Changchun are higher.

Comprehensive evaluation method of urban air quality statistics based on environmental monitoring data and its application

Air quality monitoring is effective for timely understanding of the current air quality status of a region or city.Currently,the huge volume of environmental monitoring data,which has reasonable real-time performance,provides strong support for in-depth analysis of air pollution characteristics and causes.However,in the era of big data,to meet current demands for fine management of the atmospheric environment,it is important to explore the characteristics and causes of air pollution from multiple aspects for comprehensive and scientific evaluation of air quality.This study reviewed and summarized air quality evaluation methods on the basis of environmental monitoring data statistics during the 13th Five-Year Plan period,and evaluated the level of air pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas(i.e.,the“2+26”region)during the period of the three-year action plan to fight air pollution.We suggest that air quality should be comprehensively,deeply,and scientifically evaluated from the aspects of air pollution characteristics,causes,and influences of meteorological conditions and anthropogenic emissions.It is also suggested that a threeyear moving average be introduced as one of the evaluation indexes of long-term change of pollutants.Additionally,both temporal and spatial differences should be considered when removing confounding meteorological factors.