Abstract
The ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution adversely influences the human health and natural environment. The size distribution of ambient PM determines the physiochemical and optical properties of ambient aerosol, whereas it reflects the variability in local and regional PM emission sources and formation mechanisms. In the present work, the size distribution and characteristics of the carbonaceous, ionic, elemental, and saccharide species were categorically investigated for the fraction-wise PM in Tianjin during 2018 early summer. The average concentrations were 32.4, 20.9, and 49.3 μg/m3 for the PM1, PM1–2.5, and PM2.5–10, respectively. The coarse PM2.5–10 accounted for most of the PM10 mass (47%), followed by the fine PM1 (33%) and intermodal PM1–2.5 (20%). The carbonaceous and ionic species exhibited bimodal distribution and were distributed mostly to the fine size fraction and then to the coarse size fraction. The elemental species exhibited unimodal distribution and were distributed mostly to the coarse size fraction. The specific saccharide species indicated the significant contribution of biomass burning and primary biogenic emissions. The bimodal mass size distribution of levoglucosan indicated the significant biomass burning contributions to the fine and coarse size fractions. The unimodal glucose, fructose, and arabitol distribution and the bimodal mannitol distribution indicated the dominant primary biogenic contributions to the coarse size fraction. The PM1/PM10, PM1–2.5/PM10, PM2.5–10/PM10, OC/EC, SOC/OC, AE/CE, NO3–/SO42–, K+/EC, and levoglucosan/K+ ratios were used to investigate the characteristics of the ambient size-fractionated PM. The anthropogenic sources (combustion processes, traffic emissions, and secondary particles, etc.) contributed mostly to the fine PM1 and intermodal PM1–2.5 fractions, whereas the natural sources (primary biogenic, marine salt, and mineral dust, etc.) contributed mostly to the coarse PM2.5–10 fraction. This work is a significant addition to the multi-size ambient PM’s size distribution and characterization studies.
Highlights
The ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution is a serious environmental concern, which adversely impacts the human health and natural environment
The ambient PM originates from diverse primary sources, as well as in the form of secondary particles formed by the photochemical processes involving both the anthropogenic and natural precursors (Dai et al, 2019; Zalakeviciute et al, 2020)
The ambient PM is a complex mixture ranging across various diameter sizes having different source origins, formation processes, physiochemical characteristics, and health effects
Summary
The ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution is a serious environmental concern, which adversely impacts the human health and natural environment. The ambient PM pollution leads to air quality degradation, haze formation, reduced visibility, climate change, global warming, ecosystem deterioration, and human health risks (Ari et al, 2020; Cesari et al, 2020; Jain et al, 2020). The fine PM1 fraction is generally composed of the particles originating from the combustion processes, traffic emissions, industrial emissions, and secondary particles phenomena. The coarse PM2.5−10 fraction is generally composed of the particles originating from the mineral dust, marine salt, biogenic sources, and mechanical processes. The intermodal PM1−2.5 fraction is composed of the particles having both the finer and coarser source origins. The finer particles have a deeper reach and more toxic constituents, leading to more serious health risks, such as cardiovascular diseases, respiratory problems, and more (Liu et al, 2013; Pateraki et al, 2020; Rivas et al, 2020)
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