Improving regulations on residential emissions and non-criteria hazardous contaminants—Insights from a field campaign on ambient PM and PAHs in North China Plain

Abstract

A concurrent one-year field campaign on ambient PM10 and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was carried out in three cities and one rural village from the North China Plain. The tempo-spatial variations were analyzed and discussed for the implications for regional air pollution control. Severe air pollution, with PM10 and benzo[a]pyrene (one representative PAH) exceeding national air quality standards, was in both urban and rural sites. Seasonal variation was significant with much higher levels during the heating period. Air pollution in the studied rural site was even much worse than those in the cities studied, and the PAHs contamination was nearly an order of magnitude higher. Ambient air pollution expectably declined as a result of effective clean air actions during the last several years; however, is still serious particularly in rural area and in cold seasons. Concerns on wintertime air pollution in urban areas and severe rural air pollution call for urgent actions on residential combustion emissions. Effective controls on this specific source would benefit not only indoor air quality but significantly reduce regional outdoor air pollution. In 2017, eleven Chinese ministries co-issued a plan to promote multiple clean heating ways in north China. The action, if implemented effectively, would alleviate wintertime air pollution not only in urban but rural areas. Mitigation of rural air pollutant emissions from the residential sector calls for effective deployment and sustainable use of advanced high-efficiency cooking/heating stoves and clean fuels.