Potential PM2.5 impacts of festival-related burning and other inputs on air quality in an urban area of southern Taiwan

Abstract

The Mid-Autumn Festival (MAF), or Moon Festival, is a harvest festival in Taiwan, celebrated by families across the island with evening barbecues outside. This study investigated the potential impact of these activities on the air quality in Tainan, a city in southern Taiwan. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was examined in the period leading up to the MAF (pre-MAF), during the Festival (MAF), after the Festival (post-MAF), and in the period after this (a period of moderate air quality: MAQ). Gaseous pollutants in PM2.5 were, from highest to lowest mean concentration, NH3, SO2, HCl, HNO3, HNO2, and oxalic acid, while inorganic salts were mainly in the form of the photochemical products SO42−, NH4+, and NO3−. These inorganic salts accounted for 37.6%–44.5% of the PM2.5 mass concentration, while a further 26.3%–42.8% of the PM2.5 mass was total carbon (TC). TC was mostly composed of organic carbon (OC) produced by photochemical reactions. Of this, 9.8%–14.9% was carboxylates, of which oxalate was the most abundant compound, accounting for 22.8%–31.9% of carboxylates. The presence of phthalates in the PM2.5 indicated emissions from the plastics industry. Although a noticeable amount of aerosol was produced by festival activities and burning of softwood and hardwood, onshore air currents during the festival prevented potential high aerosol loading. During the moderate air quality period following post-MAF, the concentration of total carbohydrates was 1.44–2.64 times the amount during the festival. Levoglucosan and myo-inositol accounted for 81.7%–89.6% of the total carbohydrate concentration. The average Levo/Manno ratio was 18.64±5.24. The concentration of levoglucosan was closely related to that of PO43−, erythritol, and galactose. Backward trajectories indicated that biomass burning in China affected the air quality of Tainan City.