Comparison and implications of the carbonaceous fractions under different environments in polluted central plains in China: Insight from the lockdown of COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

Before and during the COVID-19 outbreak in the heated winter season of 2019, the carbonaceous fractions including organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), OC1–4, and EC1–5 were investigated between normal (November 1, 2019, to January 24, 2020) and lockdown (January 25, to February 29, 2020) periods in polluted regions of northern Henan Province. In comparison to urban site, four rural sites showed higher concentrations of carbonaceous components, especially secondary OC (SOC); the concentration of SOC in rural sites was 1.5–3.4 times that in the urban site. During the lockdown period, SOC in urban site decreased slightly, while it increased significantly in rural sites. NO2 has a significant effect on SOC generation, particularly in normal period when NO2 concentrations were high. Nevertheless, NO2 significantly decreased, and the elevated O3 (increased by 103–138%) contributed considerably to the generation of SOC during lockdown. Relative humidity (RH) promoted SOC production when RH was below 60%, but SOC was negatively correlated or uncorrelated with RH when RH exceeded 60%. Additionally, RH has a more pronounced effect on SOC during lockdown. The contribution of gasoline vehicle emissions decreases significantly in both urban and rural sites (3–12%) due to the significant reduction of anthropogenic activities during lockdown, although the urban site remained with the biggest contributions (37%). These results provide innovative insights into the variations in carbonaceous aerosols and SOC generation during the unique time when anthropogenic sources were significantly reduced and illustrate the differences in pollution characteristics and sources of carbonaceous fractions in different environments.