Influences of Beehive Firework Displays on Ambient Fine Particles during the Lantern Festival in the YanShuei Area of Southern Taiwan

Chih-Chung Lin,Jen-Hsiung Tsai,Jia-Twu Lee,Yu-Ping Chiu,Shui-Jen Chen,Kuo-Lin Huang,Hsiu-Lin Chen

doi:10.4209/aaqr.2014.09.0201

Abstract

This study investigates water-soluble ions in the sized particles (particularly Aitken nuclei mode (dp≤0.1 μm, PM_(0.1))/ accumulation mode (0.1＜dp≤1.0 μm, PM_(0.1-1.0)) collected using a MOUDI sampler in the YanShuei area of southern Taiwan during a beehive fireworks display. The results indicate that the PM_(2.5) and PM_(10) concentrations (437 μg/m^3 and 572 μg/m^3, respectively) at the leeward sampling site are 12.5 and 4.6 times higher than the corresponding national standards of daily mean values (35 and 125 μg/m^3, respectively) during the beehive fireworks display. Closely examining PM accumulation fractions reveals that the accumulation mode particles dominate in the sized collected particles during the beehive fireworks display. Additionally, the K+ concentrations in PM_(1.0), PM_(2.5), and PM_(2.5-10) are 317, 349, and 249 times higher than those of its background value, while those of CI^- are 91, 64, and 6.9 times greater than those of its background value. For ultrafine particles, the D/B (During the beehive fireworks display/Background) values of particlebound CI^-, K^+, and Mg^(2+) increase significantly during the beehive fireworks display at the leeward sampling site. Moreover, the maxima D/B value of K^+ is 196 in the 0.1-0.18 μm size range, revealing that the beehive firework aerosols are rich in CI^-, K^+, and Mg^(2+) ions.

Highlights

Short-term or instantaneous air pollution effects on health have received increasing attention in recent years, as evidenced by numerous efforts to characterize anthropogenic emissions, especially in urban areas where large populations live (Ravindra et al, 2003; Kulshrestha et al, 2004; Chang et al, 2013; You et al, 2013)
K+ exhibited the highest increase in concentration owing to the fireworks display; the concentrations of K+ in both PM1.0 and PM2.5 at the leeward site were 317 and 349 times higher than those of background values, respectively
The D/B values of particlebound secondary aerosol species were nearly smaller than T/B and A/B data. (Notably, the ratios of ion compositions were from 0 to 2.) This finding suggests that the particlebound Cl, K+, and Mg2+ increased during the beehive fireworks display, demonstrating that firework aerosols are rich in Cl, K+, and Mg2+ ions

Summary

Introduction

Short-term or instantaneous air pollution effects on health have received increasing attention in recent years, as evidenced by numerous efforts to characterize anthropogenic emissions, especially in urban areas where large populations live (Ravindra et al, 2003; Kulshrestha et al, 2004; Chang et al, 2013; You et al, 2013). Yang et al (2014) found that dominated in size fractions, Aitken and accumulation mode particles accounting for 57% and 42%, respectively, of the total particle number concentration during the 2008 Chinese New Year period At both sampling sites, the mean accumulation fractions of PM1 during the beehive fireworks display period approximately increased by 10 to 18% over those during the trial display period. According to a related study on how firecrackers and fireworks display during the 2014 Chinese New Year affect ambient fine particles, the mass concentration of PM2.5 reached ~464 μg/m3 during the firecracker display, i.e., around four times higher than the average value (114 μg/m3) of the non-firecracker period (Yang et al, 2014).

Methods

Results

Conclusion