Long-term trends of fine particulate matter and chemical composition in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone （PRDEZ）, China

Understanding essential for formulating the trends in PM2.5 levels is clean air plans. This paper analyzes PM2.5 data from various published sources for the years 2000 to 2010 in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone （PRDEZ）. The long-term variation in PM2.5 mass concentration is analyzed. Results show that PM2.5, organic carbon （OC）, elemental carbon （EC）, and SO24 show a similar trend, increasing before 2005 and then decreasing slightly. The annual average PM2.5 concentra- tion ranges from 49.1 μg·m-3 in 2000 to 64.3 μg·m-3 in 2010, with a peak of 84.1 μg· m3 in 2004. None of these 11 years meets the new National Ambient Air Quality standard （NAAQS） for PM2.5 （35 μg· m-3）. Overall average concentrations of OC, EC, and SO2/4 are 13.0, 6.5, and 11.8μg·m-3, respectively. NO3 and NH＋ respectively have concentrations of 1.5 μg·m-3 and 2.9 μg·m-3 in 2000 and 6.4 μg·m 3 and 5.3μg·m-3 in 2010, with a statistically significant average annual trend of＋ 0.2 μg·m-3 ·yr-1 and ＋ 0.1 μg· m-3. yr-1. In certain geographic regions, OC and EC contribute most of the PM2.5, while in other regions secondary water-soluble ions are more important. In general, OC and SO2/4- are the dominant components of PM2.5, contributing 20.6% and 18.6%, respectively. These results provide, for the first time, a better understanding of the long-term PM2.5 characteristics and trends, on a species-by-species basis, in the PRDEZ. The results indicate that PM2.5 abatement needs to prioritize secondary species.

Chemical composition and source apportionment of PM10 and PM2.5 in different functional areas of Lanzhou,China

To elucidate the air pollution characteristics of northern China, airborne PM_10（atmospheric dynamic equivalent diameter ≤ 10 μm） and PM_（2.5）（atmospheric dynamic equivalent diameter ≤ 2.5 μm） were sampled in three different functional areas（Yuzhong County,Xigu District and Chengguan District） of Lanzhou, and their chemical composition（elements, ions, carbonaceous species） was analyzed. The results demonstrated that the highest seasonal mean concentrations of PM_10（369.48 μg/m^3） and PM_（2.5）（295.42 μg/m^3） were detected in Xigu District in the winter, the lowest concentration of PM_（2.5）（53.15 μg/m^3） was observed in Yuzhong District in the fall and PM_10（89.60 μg/m^3） in Xigu District in the fall.The overall average OC/EC（organic carbon/elemental carbon） value was close to the representative OC/EC ratio for coal consumption, implying that the pollution of Lanzhou could be attributed to the burning of coal. The content of SNA（the sum of sulfate, nitrate,ammonium, SNA） in PM_（2.5）in Yuzhong County was generally lower than that at other sites in all seasons. The content of SNA in PM_（2.5）and PM_10 in Yuzhong County was generally lower than that at other sites in all seasons（0.24–0.38）, indicating that the conversion ratios from precursors to secondary aerosols in the low concentration area was slower than in the area with high and intense pollutants. Six primary particulate matter sources were chosen based on positive matrix factorization（PMF） analysis, and emissions from dust, secondary aerosols, and coal burning were identified to be the primary sources responsible for the particle pollution in Lanzhou.

Comparison of inorganic chemical compositions of atmospheric TSP,PM10 and PM2.5 in northern and southern Chinese coastal cities

To compare the inorganic chemical compositions of TSP（total suspended paniculate）,PM10（particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm） and PM2.5（particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm） in southern and northern cities in China,atmospheric particles were synchronously collected in Dalian（the northern city）and Xiamen（the southern city） in spring and autumn of 2004.The mass concentrations,twenty-three elements and nine soluble ions were assessed.The results show that in Dalian,the mass concentrations of Mg,Al,Ca,Mn and Fe in spring were 4.0-10.1,2.6-8.0,4.1-12,1.2-3.6 and 2.9-7.9 times higher,respectively,than those in Xiamen.The dust storm influence is more obvious in Dalian in spring.However,in Xiamen,heavy metals accounted for 13.9%-17.9%of TSP,while heavy metals contributed to 5.5%-9.3%of TSP in Dalian.These concentrations suggest that heavy metal pollution in Xiamen was more serious.In addition,the concentrations of Na＋,Cl-,Ca2＋ and Mg2＋ were higher in Dalian due to the influence of marine aerosol,construction activities and soil dust.The NO3-/SO42- ratios in Dalian（0.25-0.49） were lower than those in Xiamen（0.51-0.62）,indicating that the contributions of vehicle emission to particles in Xiamen were higher.Coefficient of divergence values was higher than 0.40,implying that the inorganic chemical composition profiles for the particles of Dalian and Xiamen were quite different from each other.