Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The rural carbonaceous aerosols in coarse, fine, and ultrafine particles during haze pollution in northwestern China

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The carbonaceous aerosol concentrations in coarse particle (PM10: Dp ≤ 10 μm, particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm), fine particle (PM2.5: Dp ≤ 2.5 μm), and ultrafine particle (PM0.133: Dp ≤ 0.133 μm) carbon fractions in a rural area were investigated during haze events in northwestern China. The results indicated that PM2.5 contributed a large fraction in PM10. OC (organic carbon) accounted for 33, 41, and 62 % of PM10, PM2.5, and PM0.133, and those were 2, 2.4, and 0.4 % for EC (elemental carbon) in a rural area, respectively. OC3 was more abundant than other organic carbon fractions in three PMs, and char dominated EC in PM10 and PM2.5 while soot dominated EC in PM0.133. The present study inferred that K+, OP, and OC3 are good biomass burning tracers for rural PM10 and PM2.5, but not for PM0.133 during haze pollution. Our results suggest that biomass burning is likely to be an important contributor to rural PMs in northwestern China. It is necessary to establish biomass burning control policies for the mitigation of severe haze pollution in a rural area.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andreae MO, Merlet P (2001) Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 15:955–966

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cachier H, Bremond MP, Buat-Ménard P (1989) Carbonaceous aerosols from different tropical biomass burning sources. Nature 340:371–373

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cao JJ, Lee SC, Ho KF, Zhang XY, Zou SC, Fung KK, Chow JC, Watson JG (2003) Characteristics of carbonaceous aerosol in Pear River Delta Region, China during 2001 winter period. Atmos Environ 37:1451–1460

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cao JJ, Wu F, Chow JC, Lee SC, Li Y, Chen SW, An ZS, Fung KK, Watson JG, Zhu CS, Liu SX (2005) Characterization and source apportionment of atmospheric organic and elemental carbon during fall and winter of 2003 in Xi’an, China. Atmos Chem Phys 5:3127–3137

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cao JJ, Lee SC, Chow JC, Watson JG, Ho KF, Zhang RJ, Jin ZD, Shen ZX, Chen GC, Kang YM, Zou SC, Zhang LZ, Qi SH, Dai MH, Cheng Y, Hu K (2007) Spatial and seasonal distributions of carbonaceous aerosols over China. J Geophys Res 112(D22)S11. doi:10.1029/2006JD008205

  • Cao JJ, Shen ZX, Chow JC, Watson JG, Lee SC, Tie XX, Ho KF, Wang GH, Han YM (2012) Winter and summer PM2.5 chemical compositions in fourteen Chinese cities. J Air Waste Manage Assoc 62:1214–1226

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cao JJ, Zhu CS, Tie XX, Geng FH, Xu HM, Ho SSH, Wang GH, Han YM, Ho KF (2013) Characteristics and sources of carbonaceous aerosols from Shanghai, China. Atmos Chem Phys 13:803–817

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng Z, Wang SX, Jiang JK, Fu QY, Chen CH, Xu BY, Yu JQ, Fu X, Hao JM (2013) Long-term trend of haze pollution and impact of particulate matter in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Environ Pollut 182:101–110

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chow JC, Watson JG, Pritchett LC, Pierson WR, Frazier CA, Purcell RG (1993) The DRI thermal/optical reflectance carbon analysis system: description, evaluation and applications in U.S. air quality studies. Atmos Environ 27:1185–1201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chow JC, Watson JG, Chen LWA, Arnott WP, Moosmuller H, Fung KK (2004) Equivalence of elemental carbon by thermal/optical reflectance and transmittance with different temperature protocols. Environ Sci Technol 38:4414–4422

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chow JC, Watson JG, Chen LWA, Chang MCO, Robinson NF, Trimble D, Kohl S (2007) The IMPROVE-A temperature protocol for thermal/optical carbon analysis: maintaining consistency with a long-term database. J Air Waste Manage Assoc 57:1014–1023

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chow JC, Watson JG, Robles J, Wang X, Chen LW, Trimble DL, Kohl SD, Tropp RJ, Fung KK (2011) Quality assurance and quality control for thermal/optical analysis of aerosol samples for organic and elemental carbon. Anal Bioanal Chem 401:3141–3152

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chuang MT, Chou CCK, Sopajareepom K, Lin NH, Wang JL, Sheu GR, Chang YJ, Lee CT (2012) Characterization of aerosol chemical properties from near-source biomass burning in the northern Indochina during 7-SEAS/Dongsha experiment. Atmos Environ 78:72–81

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fu TM, Cao JJ, Zhang XY, Lee SC, Zhang Q, Han YM, Qu WJ, Han Z, Zhang R, Wang YX, Chen D, Henze DK (2012) Carbonaceous aerosols in China: top-down constraints on primary sources and estimation of secondary contribution. Atmos Chem Phys 12:2725–2746

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Han YM, Cao JJ, Chow JC, Watson JG, Fung KK, Jin ZD, Liu SX, An ZS (2007) Evaluation of the thermal/optical reflectance method for discrimination between soot- and char-EC. Chemosphere 69:569–574

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Han YM, Lee SC, Cao JJ, Ho KF, An ZS (2009) Spatial distribution and seasonal variation of char-EC and soot-EC in the atmosphere over China. Atmos Environ 43:6066–6073

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hata M, Chomanee J, Thongyen T, Bao L, Tekasakul S, Tekasakul P, Otani Y, Furuuchi M (2014) Characteristics of nanoparticles emitted from burning of biomass fuels. J Environ Sci 26:1913–1920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang LK, Yuan CS, Wang GZ, Wang K (2011) Chemical characteristics and source apportionment of PM10 during a brown haze episode in Harbin, China. Particuology 9:32–38

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang H, Ho KF, Lee SC, Tsang PK, Ho SSH, Zou CW, Zou SC, Cao JJ, Xu HM (2012) Characteristics of carbonaceous aerosol in PM2.5: Pearl Delta River Region, China. Atmos Res 104–105:227–236

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang RJ, Zhang YL, Bozzetti C, Ho KF, Cao JJ, Han YM, Dällenbach KR, Slowik JG, Platt SM, Canonaco F, Zotter P, Wolf R, Pieber SM, Bruns EA, Crippa M, Ciarelli G, Piazzalunga A, Schwikowski M, Abbaszade G, Schnelle-Kreis J, Zimmermann R, An ZS, Szidat S, Baltensperger U, EI Haddad I, Prévôt ASH (2014) High secondary aerosol contribution to particulate pollution during haze events in China. Nature 514:218–222

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim E, Hopke PK, Edgerton ES (2004) Improving source identification of Atlanta aerosol using temperature resolved carbon fractions in positive matrix factorization. Atmos Environ 38:3349–3362

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li W, Shi Z, Zhang D, Zhang X, Li P, Feng Q, Yuan Q, Wang W (2012) Haze particles over a coal-burning region in the China Loess Plateau in winter: three flight missions in December 2010. J Geophys Res 117, D12306. doi:10.1029/ 2012JD017720

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu CN, Lin SF, Awasthi A, Tsai CJ, Wu YC, Chen CF (2014) Sampling and conditioning artifacts of PM2.5 in filter-based samplers. Atmos Environ 85:48–53

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu CN, Lin SF, Tsai CJ, Wu YC, Chen CF (2015) Theoretical model for the evaporation loss of PM2.5 during filter sampling. Atmos Environ 109:79–86

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson AL, Donahue NM, Shrivastava MK, Weitkamp EA, Sage AM, Grieshop AP, Lane TE, Pierce JR, Pandis SN (2007) Rethinking organic aerosols: semivolatile emissions and photochemical aging. Science 315:1259–1262

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidl C, Marr IL, Caseiro A, Kotianová P, Berner A, Bauer H, Kasper-Giebl A, Puxbaum H (2008) Chemical characterisation of fine particle emissions from wood stove combustion of common woods growing in mid-European Alpine regions. Atmos Environ 42:126–141

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tsai CJ, Liu CN, Hung SM, Chen SC, Uang SN, Cheng YS, Zhou Y (2012) Novel active personal nanoparticle sampler for the exposure assessment of nanoparticles in workplaces. Environ Sci Technol 46:4546–4552

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Turpin BJ, Lim HJ (2001) Species contributions to PM2.5 mass concentrations: revisiting common assumptions for estimating organic mass. Aerosol Sci Technol 35:602–610

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang G, Kawamura K, Watanabe T, Lee S, Ho K, Cao J (2006) High loadings and source strengths of organic aerosols in China. Geophys Res Lett 33(22). doi:10.1029/2006GL027624

  • Wang Y, Zhang RY, Saravanan R (2014) Asian pollution climatically modulates midlatitude cyclones following hierarchical modeling and observational analysis. Nat Commun 5. doi:10.1038/ncomms4098

  • Watson JG, Chow JC (2011) Ambient aerosol sampling. In: Kulkarni P, Baron PA, Willeke K (eds) Aerosol measurement: principles, techniques and applications, 3rd edn. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 591–613 (Chapter 26)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • White WH, Roberts PT (1977) On the nature and origins of visibility-reducing aerosols in the Los Angeles air basin. Atmos Environ 11:803–812

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang XL, Mao M (2015) Brown haze types due to aerosol pollution at Hefei in the summer and fall. Chemosphere 119:1153–1162

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng M, Wang F, Hagler GSW, Hou X, Bergin M, Cheng Y, Salmon LG, Schauer JJ, Louie PKK, Zeng L, Zhang Y (2011) Sources of excess urban carbonaceous aerosol in the Pearl River Delta Region, China. Atmos Environ 45:1175–1182

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu CS, Chen CC, Cao JJ, Tsai CJ, Chou CCK, Liu SC, Roam GD (2010) Characterization of carbon fractions for atmospheric fine particles and nanoparticles in a highway tunnel. Atmos Environ 44:2668–2673

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu CS, Cao JJ, Shen ZX, Liu SX, Zhang T, Zhao ZZ, Xu HM, Zhang EK (2012) Indoor and outdoor chemical components of PM2.5 in the rural areas of northwestern China. Aerosol Air Qual Res 12:1157–1165

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu CS, Cao JJ, Tsai CJ, Shen ZX, Han YM, Liu SX, Zhao ZZ (2014) Comparison and implications of PM2.5 carbon fractions in different environments. Sci Total Environ 466:203–209

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41271481).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Aerosol Chemistry & Physics, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 97 Yan Xiang Road, Yan-ta Zone, Xi’an, 710061, Shaanxi, China

    Chong-Shu Zhu, Jun-Ji Cao, Sui-Xin Liu, Ru-Jin Huang, Ning-ning Zhang & Ping Wang

  2. SKLLQG, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, China

    Chong-Shu Zhu, Jun-Ji Cao, Sui-Xin Liu, Ru-Jin Huang & Ning-ning Zhang

  3. Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, Univ. Road, Hsinchu, 300, Taiwan

    Chuen-Jinn Tsai

  4. Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

    Jun-Ji Cao

  5. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

    Zhen-Xing Shen

  6. School of Tropical Eco-environment Protection, Hainan Tropical Marine University, Sanya, China

    Ping Wang

Authors
  1. Chong-Shu Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jun-Ji Cao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Chuen-Jinn Tsai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zhen-Xing Shen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Sui-Xin Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ru-Jin Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ning-ning Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Ping Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chong-Shu Zhu.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Gerhard Lammel

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhu, CS., Cao, JJ., Tsai, CJ. et al. The rural carbonaceous aerosols in coarse, fine, and ultrafine particles during haze pollution in northwestern China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 4569–4575 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5694-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5694-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation