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Characteristics and ozone formation potentials of volatile organic compounds in a heavy industrial urban agglomeration of Northeast China

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Abstract

Understanding the pollution levels, potential sources, and chemical reactivity of atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the key precursors of ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), is important for emission control and air pollution abatement. This study presents a systematic VOCs analysis in a less studied heavy industrial urban agglomeration located in Northeast China. Using a cruising platform, we conducted real-time monitoring of VOC concentrations and components at Changchun (CC), Jilin (JL), Siping (SP), and Liaoyuan (LY) in Jilin Province. During the observation period, the average VOC concentrations at CC, JL, SP, and LY were 63.38 ± 127.03, 260.39 ± 855.76, 18.06 ± 17.17, and 10.12 ± 17.48 µg/m3, respectively. Halocarbons were predominant with a high percentage of contribution (22.4–31.1%) to the total observed VOCs for all cities. Combined with 2020-based anthropogenic VOCs emission inventory of Jilin Province, we concluded that industrial processes had the largest contribution to VOCs concentration in CC, whereas petrochemical emission was the major source of VOCs in JL. The assessment of atmospheric photochemical reactivity indicates the dominant role of aromatics and alkenes in O3 formation potential (OFP). As the second-most abundant species in CC and JL, aromatics contributed over 50% of the OFPs. Alkenes played a dominant role in O3 formation in SP and LY, accounting for nearly half of the total OFPs. Considering the VOC emission characteristics and OFP results, we suggest that reducing aromatics emissions, particularly benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, should be given higher priority to mitigate O3 pollution and prevent health risks. Moreover, industrial-related, and petrochemical sources are crucial in the evolution of O3 pollution, which should be incorporated into heavy industrial urban air quality management and targeted control of O3 pollution in Northeast China.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files. Any of the sections are relevant to manuscript and applicable for the section.

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Funding

This work was supported by the NSFC (No. 22106060) and the Key Research Program of Frontier Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. QYZDB-SSW-DQC045).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China

    Yue Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130102, China

    Bo You, Yijing Shang, Jing Fu & Weiwei Chen

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yue Zhang, Bo You, Yijing Shang, Jing Fu & Weiwei Chen

  4. College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, 130022, China

    Weiwei Chen

  5. Jilin Provincial Academy of Environmental Sciences, Changchun, 130012, China

    Qiuyang Bao

  6. State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Yanli Zhang

  7. School of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Xiaobing Pang

  8. College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, 130022, China

    Li Guo

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  1. Yue Zhang
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  2. Bo You
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  3. Yijing Shang
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  4. Qiuyang Bao
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  5. Yanli Zhang
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  6. Xiaobing Pang
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  7. Li Guo
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  8. Jing Fu
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  9. Weiwei Chen
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Contributions

Yue Zhang: investigation, data curation, formal analysis, visualization, writing original draft. Bo You: investigation. Yijing Shang: investigation, data curation. Qiuyang Bao: investigation, resources. Yanli Zhang: conceptualization. Xiaobing Pang: conceptualization. Li Guo: investigation. Jing Fu: investigation, review. Weiwei Chen: conceptualization, supervision, review, project administration.

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Correspondence to Weiwei Chen.

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Zhang, Y., You, B., Shang, Y. et al. Characteristics and ozone formation potentials of volatile organic compounds in a heavy industrial urban agglomeration of Northeast China. Air Qual Atmos Health (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-024-01569-4

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