Concentration Characteristics and Sources of Chemical Elements in Atmospheric Fine Particles (PM_(2.5)) in Autumn in Xi'an City

[Objective] The aim was to study the concentration characteristics and sources of chemical elements in atmospheric fine particles (PM2.5) in autumn in Xi’an City. [Method] By means of mini-volume sampler, PM2.5 samples in atmosphere in Xi’an were collected in October 2009, and the concentration characteristics and sources of elements in PM2.5 were analyzed. [Result] The average mass concentration of PM2.5 in atmosphere in autumn in Xi’an City was 168.44 μg/m3 which was higher than that of Beijing and Pearl River Delta area, and the minimum and maximum value were 53.29 and 358.16 μg/m3, respectively. The mass concentration of S, Zn, K, Cl, Ca and Fe in PM2.5 was above 1.0 μg/m3, being at high pollution level. In addition, K had obvious correlation with organic carbon (OC) and element carbon (EC), with the correlation coefficients of 0.76 and 0.75 (P<0.000 1), respectively, and it showed that OC and EC had the same source as K, namely biomass burning had certain contribution to OC and EC. Enrichment factors analysis revealed that K, Ca, Fe, Ti, Mn and Cr mainly came from earth crust, rock weathering and other natural sources, while anthropogenic pollution sources had great effects on S, Zn, Cl, Pb, Br, Mo, Cd and As which were affected by soil dust and other natural sources slightly, and Cd had the highest enrichment factor and mainly came from metal smelting. In a word, coal combustion, biomass burning, vehicle emissions, metallurgical, chemical industry and dust were the main sources of PM2.5 in autumn in Xi’an. [Conclusion] The study could provide theoretical foundation for the control of urban environmental pollution.

Real-time,single-particle chemical composition,volatility and mixing state measurements of urban aerosol particles in southwest China

To investigate the volatility of atmospheric particulates and the evolution of other particulate properties(chemical composition,particle size distribution and mixing state)with temperature,a thermodenuder coupled with a single particle aerosol mass spectrometer was used to conduct continuous observations of atmospheric fine particles in Chengdu,southwest China.Because of their complex sources and secondary reaction processes,the average mass spectra of single particles contained a variety of chemical components(including organic,inorganic and metal species).When the temperature rose from room temperature to280℃,the relative areas of volatile and semi-volatile components decreased,while the relative areas of less or non-volatile components increased.Most(>80%)nitrate and sulfate existed in the form of NH_(4)NO_(3)and(NH_(4))_(2)SO_(4),and their volatilization temperatures were50–100℃and 150–280℃,respectively.The contribution of biomass burning(BB)and vehicle emission(VE)particles increased significantly at 280℃,which emphasized the important role of regional biomass burning and local motor vehicle emissions to the core of particles.With the increase in temperature,the particle size of the particles coated with volatile or semi-volatile components was reduced,and their mixing with secondary inorganic components was significantly weakened.The formation of K-nitrate(KNO_(3))and K-sulfate(KSO_(4))particles was dominated by liquid-phase processes and photochemical reactions,respectively.Reducing KNO_(3)and BB particles is the key to improving visibility.These new results are helpful towards better understanding the initial sources,pollution formation mechanisms and climatic effects of fine particulate matter in this megacity in southwest China.

Source Apportionment of Ambient PM_(10) in the Urban Area of Longyan City,China:a Comparative Study Based on Chemical Mass Balance Model and Factor Analysis Method

In order to identify the day and night pollution sources of PM10 in ambient air in Longyan City,the authors analyzed the elemental composition of respirable particulate matters in the day and night ambient air samples and various pollution sources which were collected in January 2010 in Longyan with inductivity coupled plasma-mass spectrometry（ICP-MS）.Then chemical mass balance（CMB） model and factor analysis（FA） method were applied to comparatively study the inorganic components in the sources and receptor samples.The results of factor analysis show that the major sources were road dust,waste incineration and mixed sources which contained automobile exhaust,soil dust/secondary dust and coal dust during the daytime in Longyan City,China.There are two major sources of pollution which are soil dust and mixture sources of automobile exhaust and secondary dust during the night in Longyan.The results of CMB show that the major sources are secondary dust,automobile exhaust and road dust during the daytime in Longyan.The major sources are secondary dust,soil dust and automobile exhaust during the night in Longyan.The results of the two methods are similar to each other and the results will guide us to plan to control the PM10 pollution sources in Longyan.

Chemical characteristics and source apportionment of atmospheric particles during heating period in Harbin, China

Atmospheric particles（total suspended particles（TSPs）; particulate matter（PM） with particle size below 10 μm, PM10; particulate matter with particle size below 2.5 μm, PM2.5）were collected and analyzed during heating and non-heating periods in Harbin. The sources of PM10 and PM2.5were identified by the chemical mass balance（CMB） receptor model.Results indicated that PM2.5/TSP was the most prevalent and PM2.5was the main component of PM210, while the presence of PM10–100was relatively weak. SO-4and NO-3concentrations were more significant than other ions during the heating period. As compared with the non-heating period, Mn, Ni, Pb, S, Si, Ti, Zn, As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Fe and K were relatively higher during the heating period. In particular, Mn, Ni, S, Si, Ti, Zn and As in PM2.5were obviously higher during the heating period. Organic carbon（OC） in the heating period was 2–5 times higher than in the non-heating period. Elemental carbon（EC） did not change much. OC/EC ratios were 8–11 during the heating period, which was much higher than in other Chinese cities（OC/EC： 4–6）. Results from the CMB indicated that 11 pollution sources were identified, of which traffic, coal combustion, secondary sulfate, secondary nitrate, and secondary organic carbon made the greatest contribution. Before the heating period, dust and petrochemical industry made a larger contribution. In the heating period, coal combustion and secondary sulfate were higher. After the heating period, dust and petrochemical industry were higher. Some hazardous components in PM2.5were higher than in PM10, because PM2.5has a higher ability to absorb toxic substances. Thus PM2.5pollution is more significant regarding human health effects in the heating period.

Characteristics of atmospheric particles and heavy metals in winter in Chang-Zhu-Tan city clusters, China

To understand the pollution characteristics of atmospheric particles and heavy metals in winter in Chang-Zhu-Tan city clusters, China, total suspended particulate （TSP） and PMI0 samples were collected in cities of Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan from December 2011 to January 2012, and heavy metals of Cd, Pb, Cr, and As were analyzed. It shows that the average TSP concentration in Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan were （183 ± 73）, （201± 84） and （190 ±66） μg/m3 respectively, and the average PM10 were （171 ± 82）, （178 ± 65） and （179 ± 55） μg/m3 respectively. The lowest TSP and PM10 concentrations occurred at the background Shaping site of Changsha. The average ratio of p（PM10）/p（TSP） was 91.9%, ranging from 81.3% to 98.9%. Concerning heavy metals, in TSP samples, the concentration of Cr, As, Cd and Pb were 28.8-56.5, 18.1-76.3, 3.9-26.1 and 148.0-460.9 ng/m3, respectively, while in PMI0 samples, were 16.4--42.1, 15.5-67.9, 3.3-22.2 and 127.9-389.3 ng/m3, respectively. The enrichment factor of Cd was the highest, followed by Pb and As, while that of Cr was the lowest.

Effect of non-spherical atmospheric charged particles and atmospheric visibility on performance of satellite-ground quantum link and parameters simulation

In order to study the relationship between the non-spherical atmospheric charged particles and satellite-ground quantum links attenuation. The relationship among the particle concentration, equivalent radius, charge density of the charged particle, the attenuation coefficient and entanglement of the satellite-ground quantum link can be established first according to the extinction cross section and spectral distribution function of the non-spherical atmospheric charged particles. The quantitative relationship between atmospheric visibility and communication fidelity of satellite-ground quantum link were analyzed then. Simulation results show that the ellipsoid, Chebyshev atmospheric charged particle influences on attenuation of the satellite-ground quantum link increase progressively. When the equivalent particle radius is 0.2 gm and the particle concentration is 50 μg/m^3, the attenuation coefficient and entanglement of the satellite-ground quantum link is 9.21 dB/km, 11.46 dB/km and 0.453, 0.421 respectively; When the atmospheric visibility reduces from 8 km to 2 kin, the communication fidelity of satellite-ground quantum link decreases from 0.52 to 0.08. It is shown that the non-spherical atmospheric charged particles and atmospheric visibility influence greatly on the performance of the satellite-ground quantum link communication system. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the parameters of the quantum-satellite communication system according to the visibility values of the atmosphere and the shapes of the charged particles in the atmosphere to improve reliability of the satellite-ground quantum link.

Origin,evolution,and distribution of atmospheric aerosol particles in Asia

In recent years, Asia became the region with the highest increase in rate of urbanization and economic development in the world. According to recent estimates from the United Nations, the world population will increase 36% between 2000 and 2030, leading to a doubling of the number of urban dwellers in less developed regions, like Asia. Such rapid economic development has many associated environmental problems, including development of heavy aerosol pollution over Asia.

Determination of particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after molecularly imprinted polymer extraction

A solid phase extraction procedure(SPE)is described for the quantitative analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)in atmospheric particulate matter(PM),as ubiquitous environmental pollutants routinely measured in air qualitymonitoring.A SPE cartridge was used based on a molecular imprinted polymer(MIP-SPE)properly tailored for selective retention of PAHs with 4 and more benzene fused rings.The performance of the clean-up procedure was evaluated with the specific concern of selective purification towards saturated hydrocarbons,which are the PM components mostly interfering GC analysis of target PAHs.Under optimized operative conditions,the MIP-SPE provided analyte recovery close to 95%for heavier PAHs,from benzo(α)pyrene to benzo(ghi)perylene,and close to 90%for four benzene rings PAHs,with good reproducibility(RSDs:2.5%-5.9%).Otherwise,C_(17)-C_(32) n-alkanes were nearly completely removed.The proposed method was critically compared with Solid Phase Micro Extraction(SPME)using a polyacrylate fiber.Both methods were successfully applied to the analysis of ambient PM2.5 samples collected at an urban polluted site.Between the two procedures,the MIP-SPE provided the highest recovery(R%≥93%)for PAHs with 5 and more benzene rings,but lower for lighter PAHs.In contrast,SPME showed a mean acceptable R%value(∼80%)for all the investigated PAHs,except for the heaviest PAHs in the most polluted samples(R%:110%-138%),suggesting an incomplete purification from the interfering n-hydrocarbons.

TOF–SIMS surface analysis of chemical components of size–fractioned urban aerosols in a typical heavy air pollution event in Beijing

Size–fractioned atmospheric aerosol particles were collected during a typical heavy air pollution event in Beijing. The organic and inorganic components on the surfaces of the samples were analyzed using time–of–flight secondary ion mass spectrometry（TOF–SIMS）.The variation characteristics of the surface chemical composition and influencing factors were studied, and the possible sources of these chemical compositions were identified through principal component analysis. The results showed that inorganic components such as crustal elements and sulfate, and organic components such as aliphatic hydrocarbons and oxygen–containing organic groups were present. Some surface components, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals and fluorides may exert adverse effects on human health. The species and relative percentages of the chemical components varied with particle size, diurnal and pollution progress. During a heavy pollution event, the species and relative percentages of secondary components such as oxygen–containing organic groups and sulfurous compounds increased, indicating that particles aged during this event. The surface chemical composition of the aerosol particles was affected mainly by emissions from coal combustion and motor vehicles. In addition, air pollution, meteorological factors, and air mass transport also exerted a significant effect on the surface chemical composition of aerosol particles.

A REVIEW OF CURRENT KNOWLEDGE CONCERNING SIZE-DEPENDENT AEROSOL REMOVAL

The status of current knowledge on size-dependent aerosol removal by dry and wet processes, including dry deposition and impaction and nucleation scavenging, is reviewed. The largest discrepancies between theoretical estimations and measurement data on dry deposition and below-cloud scavenging are for submicron particles, Early dry deposition models, which developed based on chamber and wind tunnel measurements, tended to underestimate dry deposition velocity （Vσ） for submicron particles by around one order of magnitude compared to recent field measurements. Recently developed models are able to predict reasonable Vσ values for submicron particles but shift unrealistically the predicted minimum Vσ to larger particle sizes. Theoretical studies of impaction scavenging of aerosol particles by falling liquid drops also substantially underestimate the scavenging coefficients for submicron particles. Empirical formulas based on field measurements can serve as an alternative to the theoretical scavenging models. Future development of size-resolved impaction scavenging models needs to include more precipitation properties （e,g., droplet surface area） and to be evaluated by detailed cloud microphysical models and available measurements. Several recently developed nucleation scavenging parameterizations for in-cloud removal of interstitial aerosol give comparable results when evaluated against parcel models; however, they need to be verified once suitable field measurements are available. More theoretical and field studies are also needed in order to better understand the role of organic aerosols in the nucleation scavenging process.

Research Note Difference between low-volume and high-volume Andersen samplers in measuring atmospheric aerosols

The mass concentration and size distribution of aerosols in Tokaimura were investigated using a high-volume and a low-volume Andersen sampler. A difference was found using the two samplers： the concentration of total aerosols determined with the high-volume sampler is smaller than that of the low-volume sampler by 70-90% throughout the year. Compared to the high-volume sampler, low-volume sampler gave lower concentration for aerosols 〉7 μm, higher concentration for aerosols of 3.3-7.0 μm and 〈 1.1 μm, though similar results for aerosols of 1.1-3.3 μm. The low-volume sampler was found to have better separation efficiency and higher accuracy.

Origin of high particle number concentrations reaching the St. Louis, Midwest Supersite

Ultrafine particles are associated with adverse health effects. Total Particle Number Concentration（TNC） of fine particles were measured during 2002 at the St. Louis — Midwest supersite. The time series showed overall low level with frequent large peaks. The time series was analyzed alongside criteria pollutant measurements and meteorological observations. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify further contributing factors and to determine the association of different pollutants with TNC levels. This showed the strong contribution of sulfur dioxide（SO2） and nitrogen oxides（NO x） to high TNC levels. The analysis also suggested that increased dispersion resulting from faster winds and higher mixing heights led to higher TNC levels. Overall, the results show that there were intense particle nucleation events in a SO2 rich plume reaching the site which contributed around 29% of TNC. A further 40% was associated with primary emissions from mobile sources. By separating the remaining TNC by time of day and clear sky conditions,we suggest that most likely 8% of TNC are due to regional nucleation events and 23% are associated with the general urban background.