Simultaneous Measurements of Chemical Compositions of Fine Particles during Winter Haze Period in Urban Sites in China and Korea

Abstract

We performed simultaneous measurements of chemical compositions of fine particles in Beijing, China and Gwangju, Korea to better understand their sources during winter haze period. We identified PM2.5 events in Beijing, possibly caused by a combination of multiple primary combustion sources (biomass burning, coal burning, and vehicle emissions) and secondary aerosol formation under stagnant conditions and/or dust sources under high wind speeds. During the PM2.5 events in Gwangju, the contribution of biomass burning and secondary formation of nitrate and organics to the fine particles content significantly increased under stagnant conditions. We commonly observed the increases of nitrogen-containing organic compounds and biomass burning inorganic (K+) and organic (levoglucosan) markers, suggesting the importance of biomass burning sources during the winter haze events (except dust event cases) at both sites. Pb isotope ratios indicated that the fraction of Pb originated from possibly industry and coal combustion sources increased during the PM2.5 events in Gwangju, relative to nonevent days.

New health index derived from oxidative potential and cell toxicity of fine particulate matter to assess its potential health effect

“…Beijing and Gwangju sites are located at Peking University Changping campus, Beijing, China (40°14′44.6″N and 116°11′33.3″E)) and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) campus, Gwangju, Korea (35°13′41.1″N and 126°50′36.3″E), respectively. Details of these maps can be found in our previous studies [ 31 , 32 ]. A total of 202 sampling days were simultaneously conducted, with 82 winter days from each site during January 3, 2018–February 1, 2018, December 27, 2018–January 25, 2019, and December 23, 2019–January 13, 2020, and 19 summer days from each site during August 5, 2019–August 23, 2019.…”

“…Both of the methods have absolute detection limits ranging from 1.7 to 4.6 pg/m 3 . A more detailed information about the organic speciation method can be found in Park et al and Oh et al [ 32 , 35 ].…”

Organic Molecular Marker from Regional Biomass Burning—Direct Application to Source Apportionment Model

“…For all polar organic compounds, the final mass fragment transitions of quantification application such as fragmentor voltage, collision energy, quantifier and qualifier ions, were determined. The detailed analytical condition can be found at the previous study [27][28][29] 2.2. Analysis of Organic Carbon (OC) and Elemental Carbon (EC)…”