Compositions and Sources of Organic Aerosol in PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Nanjing in China
Organic aerosols are harmful to the environment because of their impact on air quality and visibility. They have serious effects not only on living beings and ecosystems because of their biological toxicity, but they also have an indirect effect on regional climate change as cloud condensation nucle...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/6/971 |
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| author | Wenjing Li Shuang Guo Zhiqi Xu Xinfeng Wang Anting Wang Mindong Chen |
| author_facet | Wenjing Li Shuang Guo Zhiqi Xu Xinfeng Wang Anting Wang Mindong Chen |
| author_sort | Wenjing Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Organic aerosols are harmful to the environment because of their impact on air quality and visibility. They have serious effects not only on living beings and ecosystems because of their biological toxicity, but they also have an indirect effect on regional climate change as cloud condensation nuclei and radiation force. Many measures have been applied to decrease air pollution. Although the air quality has greatly improved, the standard of the World Health Organization (WHO) is far from being met at present. In this study, fine particulates were collected in Nanjing throughout 2019, and high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ion–mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) was carried out to determine 14 organic acids, 10 nitrated phenols, 1 aldehyde, and 1 ketone in aerosol samples. In this study, we further determined the changes in the pollutants in Nanjing in recent years compared to previous studies and characterized more kinds of species in the air. We found that different kinds of nitrated phenols showed similar trends of being abundant in winter and substituted in spring, autumn, and summer. 4-Nitrophenol was the most abundant species (2.83 ng m<sup>−3</sup>) among the nitrated phenols. <i>p</i>-Coumaric acid presented the highest level in summer with an average concentration of 1.55 ng m<sup>−3</sup>, indicating that grass burning was significant in summer, possibly due to wheat stalk and perennial ryegrass burning. The positive matrix fraction (PMF) model was applied to identify the sources of aerosols in Nanjing, including coal burning, grass burning, softwood burning, hardwood burning, anthropogenic secondary organic aerosols (SOAs), and biogenic SOAs. Coal burning and softwood burning contributed much more to the total determined species with values of 20.3% and 18.2%, respectively. Anthropogenic SOAs contributed 17.1%, and hardwood burning contributed 16.7%. The contribution of biogenic SOAs was 15%, and the grass-burning source contribution was the lowest, with 12.6%. With consideration of the large contribution from anthropogenic combustion activities, more strict measures are required to reduce emission pollutants in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:48:18Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:48:18Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
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| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-fa0183dc206445cebf80a7f09acb0ee42023-11-18T09:14:26ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332023-06-0114697110.3390/atmos14060971Compositions and Sources of Organic Aerosol in PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Nanjing in ChinaWenjing Li0Shuang Guo1Zhiqi Xu2Xinfeng Wang3Anting Wang4Mindong Chen5China Meteorological Administration, Institute of Meteorological Development and Planning, Beijing 100000, ChinaJiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, ChinaChina Metrological Administration, Institute of Urban Meteorology, Beijing 100089, ChinaEnvironment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, ChinaEcological Meteorology and Satellite Remote Sensing Center of Liaoning Province, Shenyang 110166, ChinaJiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, ChinaOrganic aerosols are harmful to the environment because of their impact on air quality and visibility. They have serious effects not only on living beings and ecosystems because of their biological toxicity, but they also have an indirect effect on regional climate change as cloud condensation nuclei and radiation force. Many measures have been applied to decrease air pollution. Although the air quality has greatly improved, the standard of the World Health Organization (WHO) is far from being met at present. In this study, fine particulates were collected in Nanjing throughout 2019, and high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ion–mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) was carried out to determine 14 organic acids, 10 nitrated phenols, 1 aldehyde, and 1 ketone in aerosol samples. In this study, we further determined the changes in the pollutants in Nanjing in recent years compared to previous studies and characterized more kinds of species in the air. We found that different kinds of nitrated phenols showed similar trends of being abundant in winter and substituted in spring, autumn, and summer. 4-Nitrophenol was the most abundant species (2.83 ng m<sup>−3</sup>) among the nitrated phenols. <i>p</i>-Coumaric acid presented the highest level in summer with an average concentration of 1.55 ng m<sup>−3</sup>, indicating that grass burning was significant in summer, possibly due to wheat stalk and perennial ryegrass burning. The positive matrix fraction (PMF) model was applied to identify the sources of aerosols in Nanjing, including coal burning, grass burning, softwood burning, hardwood burning, anthropogenic secondary organic aerosols (SOAs), and biogenic SOAs. Coal burning and softwood burning contributed much more to the total determined species with values of 20.3% and 18.2%, respectively. Anthropogenic SOAs contributed 17.1%, and hardwood burning contributed 16.7%. The contribution of biogenic SOAs was 15%, and the grass-burning source contribution was the lowest, with 12.6%. With consideration of the large contribution from anthropogenic combustion activities, more strict measures are required to reduce emission pollutants in the future.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/6/971PM<sub>2.5</sub>HPLC-MS/MSorganic aerosolsource apportionmentcontributionPMF |
| spellingShingle | Wenjing Li Shuang Guo Zhiqi Xu Xinfeng Wang Anting Wang Mindong Chen Compositions and Sources of Organic Aerosol in PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Nanjing in China Atmosphere PM<sub>2.5</sub> HPLC-MS/MS organic aerosol source apportionment contribution PMF |
| title | Compositions and Sources of Organic Aerosol in PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Nanjing in China |
| title_full | Compositions and Sources of Organic Aerosol in PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Nanjing in China |
| title_fullStr | Compositions and Sources of Organic Aerosol in PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Nanjing in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Compositions and Sources of Organic Aerosol in PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Nanjing in China |
| title_short | Compositions and Sources of Organic Aerosol in PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Nanjing in China |
| title_sort | compositions and sources of organic aerosol in pm sub 2 5 sub in nanjing in china |
| topic | PM<sub>2.5</sub> HPLC-MS/MS organic aerosol source apportionment contribution PMF |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/6/971 |
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