Abstract

We investigated the influence of the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations on local air quality in Beijing from 2013 through 2019, bringing together comprehensive observations at the newly-constructed Aerosol and Haze Laboratory at Beijing University of Chemical Technology – West Campus (BUCT-AHL) and data from Chinese government air quality measurement stations. In this study, these datasets are used together to provide a detailed analysis of air quality during the CNY over multiple years. Before CNY in 2018, the city of Beijing prohibited the use of fireworks and firecrackers in an effort to reduce air pollution. In 2018 air pollutant concentrations still showed a significant peak during the CNY night, even though not as strong as in previous years, but in 2019, the pollution levels were notably lower. During the studied 7-year study period, it appears that there has been a long-term decrease in CNY related emissions since 2016. Based on our analysis, the pollutants with the most notable spike during CNY were sulfur dioxide and particulate matter, including black carbon. Sulfuric acid concentration followed the sulfur dioxide concentration and showed elevated overnight concentration in CNY 2018, but not notably in 2019. Additionally, spectrometer data and analysis of aerosol particle number size distribution shows direct emissions of particles with diameters around 20 nm during CNY in 2018 and 2019. Meteorological conditions were comparable between the latest two years, indicating that air quality associated with the CNY may be improving, perhaps a positive effect of the restrictions. The longer observations in the future will provide confirmation for these trends.

Highlights

  • We focus on the measurements collected from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Aerosol and Haze Laboratory (BUCT-AHL, Liu et al, 2020), an academic research station in Beijing China, along with seven years of data from the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) throughout the Beijing metropolitan area

  • The specific questions we aim to answer include: i) how do the CNY celebrations and associated increase in precursor and aerosol emissions reflect into the atmospheric concentrations of trace gases and particulate matter and particle number size distribution; ii) how are these changes connected with meteorological conditions; iii) how does the influence of CNY to regional air quality vary spatially over the Beijing area; iv) how the influence of CNY on Beijing air quality has changed during the recent years, including the result of the firework prohibition beginning in 2018; and v) how does the gas phase sulfuric acid relate to the new particle formation and cluster mode particle number concentration during

  • These results are consistent with previous studies that have linked the CNY to degraded air quality both locally and regionally

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Summary

Introduction

Anthropogenic emissions associated with festivities, notably fireworks and firecrackers (hereafter fireworks), are known for their hazardous effects, and even short-term exposure can have significant impacts on human health (Bach et al, 2007; Chen et al 2011; Jiang et al 2015; Yang et al 2014). Some studies have related these festivities to the occurrence of haze episodes in the days following a firework event (Li et al 2013; Feng et al 2012). The CNY is a traditional annual holiday occurring in wintertime – in January or February (the exact date is based on the lunar cycle). Because of the adverse impacts on health, pollution from fireworks during the CNY has gathered attention worldwide. Studies including Yang et al (2014) in Jinan, Shi et al (2014)

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