Understanding secondary particles in a regional site of Yangtze River Delta: Insights from mass spectrometric measurement

Wenfei Zhu; Jialin Shi; Hui Wang; Ying Yu; Rui Tan; Ruizhe Shen; Jun Chen; Shengrong Lou; Min Hu; Song Guo

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172994

Understanding secondary particles in a regional site of Yangtze River Delta: Insights from mass spectrometric measurement

Sci Total Environ. 2024 May 7:933:172994. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172994. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Wenfei Zhu¹, Jialin Shi¹, Hui Wang², Ying Yu², Rui Tan², Ruizhe Shen², Jun Chen¹, Shengrong Lou¹, Min Hu², Song Guo³

Affiliations

¹ School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200233, PR China.
² State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, International Joint Laboratory for Regional Pollution Control, Ministry of Education (IJRC), College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China.
³ State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, International Joint Laboratory for Regional Pollution Control, Ministry of Education (IJRC), College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, PR China. Electronic address: songguo@pku.edu.cn.

PMID: 38719033
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172994

Abstract

Submicron particulate matter (PM₁) poses significant risks to health risks and global climate. In this study, secondary organic aerosols (SOA) and inorganic compositions were examined for their physicochemical characteristics and evolution using high-resolution aerosol instruments in Changzhou over one-month period. The results showed that transport accompanied by regional static conditions leaded to the occurrence of heavy pollution. In addition, regional generation and local emissions also leaded to the occurrence of light and moderate pollution during the observation period in Changzhou. Organic aerosols (OA) and nitrate (NO₃^-) accounted for 45 % and 23 % of PM₁, respectively. The increase in PM₁ was dominated by the contribution of NO₃^- and OA. SOA was dominance in OA (63 % with 40 % MO-OOA), which was higher than primary organic aerosols (POA). Besides, photochemical reactions and the high oxidizing nature of the urban atmosphere promoted the production of OA, especially MO-OOA in Changzhou. Our results highlight that secondary particles contribute significantly to PM pollution in Changzhou, underlining the importance of controlling emissions of gaseous precursors, especially under high oxidation conditions.

Keywords: ACSM; Changzhou; Chemical composition; Nitrate; Secondary organic aerosol.