Ambient volatile organic compounds at a receptor site in the Pearl River Delta region:Variations,source apportionment and effects on ozone formation

We present the continuously measurements of volatile organic compounds(VOCs)at a receptor site(Wan Qing Sha,WQS)in the Pearl River Delta(PRD)region from September to November of 2017.The average mixing ratios of total VOCs(TVOCs)was 36.3±27.9 ppbv with the dominant contribution from alkanes(55.5%),followed by aromatics(33.3%).The diurnal variation of TVOCs showed a strong photochemical consumption during daytime,resulting in the formation of ozone(O_(3)).Five VOC sources were resolved by the positive matrix factorization(PMF)model,including solvent usage(28.6%),liquid petroleum gas(LPG)usage(24.4%),vehicle exhaust(21.0%),industrial emissions(13.2%)and gasoline evaporation(12.9%).The regional transport air masses from the upwind cities of south China can result in the elevated concentrations of TVOCs.Low ratios of TVOCs/NO_(x)(1.53±0.88)suggested that the O_(3) formation regime at WQS site was VOC-limited,which also confirmed by a photochemical box model with the master chemical mechanism(PBM-MCM).Furthermore,the observation on high-O_(3) episode days revealed that frequent O_(3) outbreaks at WQS were mainly caused by the regional transport of anthropogenic VOCs especially for aromatics and the subsequent photochemical reactions.This study provides valuable information for policymakers to propose the effective control strategies on photochemical pollution in a regional perspective.

Fast increasing of surface ozone concentrations in Pearl River Delta characterized by a regional air quality monitoring network during 2006–2011

Based on the observation by a Regional Air Quality Monitoring Network including 16 monitoring stations, temporal and spatial variations of ozone （O3）, NO2 and total oxidant （Ox） were analyzed by both linear regression and cluster analysis. A fast increase of regional O3 concentrations of 0.86 ppbWyr was found for the annual averaged values from 2006 to 2011 in Guangdong, China. Such fast O3 increase is accompanied by a correspondingly fast NOx reduction as indicated by a fast NO2 reduction rate of 0,61 ppbV/yr. Based on a cluster analysis, the monitoring stations were classified into two major categories - rural stations （non-urban） and suburban/urban stations. The 03 concentrations at rural stations were relatively conserved while those at suburban/urban stations showed a fast increase rate of 2.0 ppbV/yr accompanied by a NO2 reduction rate of 1.2 ppbV/yr. Moreover, a rapid increase of the averaged O3 concentrations in springtime （13%/yr referred to 2006 level） was observed, which may result from the increase of solar duration, reduction of precipitation in Guangdong and transport from Eastern Central China. Application of smog production algorithm showed that the photochemical O3 production is mainly volatile organic compounds （VOC）-controlled. However, the photochemical O3 production is sensitive to both NOx and VOC for O3 pollution episode. Accordingly, it is expected that a combined NOx and VOC reduction will be helpful for the reduction of the O3 pollution episodes in Pearl River Delta while stringent VOC emission control is in general required for the regional O3 pollution control.

Are current Chinese national ambient air quality standards on 24-hour averages for particulate matter sufficient to protect public health？

With rapid economic development and urbanization in recent decades, China has experienced the worsening of ambient air quality. For better air quality management to protect human health, Chinese government revised national ambient air quality standards （NAAQS） for particulate matter （PM） in 2012 （GB3095-2012）. To assess the effectiveness of current NAAQS for PM on public health in Chinese population, we conducted a meta- analysis on published studies examining the mortality risk of short-term exposure to PM with aerodynamic diameters less than 10 and 2.5μm （PM10 and PM2.5） in China. The reported 24-hour concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 in studies ranged from 43.5 to 150.1 μg/m^3 and 37.5 to 176.7 μg/m^3. In the pooled excess, mortality risk estimates of short-term exposure to PM. In specific, per 10 μg/m^3 increase in PM10, we observed increases of 0.40% （95%CI： 0.33%, 0.47%）, 0.57% （95%CI： 0.44%, 0.70%） and 0.49% （95%CI： 0.40%, 0.58%） in total, respiratory and cardiovascular mortality, per 10/μg/m^3 increase in PM2.5, we observed increases of 0.51% （95% CI： 0.38%, 0.63%）, 0.62% （95%CI： 0.52%, 0.73%） and 0.75% （95%CI： 0.54%, 0.95%） in total, respiratory and cardiovascular mortality. Finally, we derived 125 μg/m^3 for PM10 and 62.5 μg/ m^3 for PM2.5 as 24-hour recommendation values based on the pooled estimates. Our results indicated that current Chinese NAAQS for PM could be sufficient in mitigating the excess mortality risk from short-term exposure to ambient PM. However, future research on long-term exposure cohort studies in Chinese population is also essential in revising annual averages for PM in Chinese NAAQS.

Space view of the decadal variation for typical air pollutants in the Pearl River Delta （PRD） region in China

The Pearl River Delta （PRD） is one of the most industrialized, urbanized and populated regions in China, and thus has been long suffering from severe air pollutions. Space data provide a unique perspective for investigating the atmospheric environment at a regional scale. By utilizing multiple satellite retrievals from 2005 to 2013, this study presented, for the first time, the spatial patterns and temporal trends of typical air pollutants over PRD and its vicinity. As viewed from space, aerosol optical depth （AOD）, NO2 and SO2 all had their higher values at the central part of PRD, and showed clear descending gradients as moving to the outskirt of this region. As to the inter-annual variation, all these pollutants had decreasing trends in PRD during the study period, which generally agreed with the relevant in situ measurements. However, the satellite retrievals differed from ground measurements when addressing NO2 and SO2 in the vicinity of PRD. This work also provides the inter-comparison among PRD and three other metropolitan clusters in China： PRD had relatively high AOD, moderate NO2 and low SO2 levels, and it was the only region achieving the effective reduction of NO2 and SO2 during last decade. Unlike the previous three pollutants, HCHO observed by satellite showed very special patterns： it had a relatively homogeneous spatial distribution over both of PRD and its vicinity, and presented an opposite increasing trend from 2005 to 2010. Moreover, PRD had the highest HCHO level among all the metropolitan clusters, hinting a considerable contribution of biogenic origins of HCHO in PRD.