The Indoor and Outdoor Carbonaceous Pollution during Winter and Summer in Rural Areas of Shaanxi, China

Abstract

ABSTRACT, and 7.4 µg/m 3 , respectively). The average indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratios for PM 2.5 and EC were close to or less than 1.0 and those for OC and BC were above 1.0. The correlation coefficients of PM 2.5 and carbon species also indicated that the indoor concentrations of PM 2.5 and carbonaceous aerosol were correlated with the corresponding outdoor concentrations. Average OC/EC ratios ranged from 4.6 to 23.6 with an average of 9.1 during winter and from 4.2 to 12.0 with an average of 6.3 during summer. The results of this study showed that the OC and EC concentrations and OC/EC ratios in rural areas were higher than those of an urban area in Xi'an. These findings showed that improving energy efficiency and structure will be very important in reducing emissions in rural areas of Shaanxi.

Deep Investigation of Ultrafine Particles in Urban Air

“…The mechanisms for the cardiovascular effects are not completely understood, but a possible hypothesis is that, because of their small size, UFPs could enter the systemic circulation and induce direct effects on myocardium or coronary vasculature (Nemmar et al, 2004). Several studies have indicated that about 50-70% of UFP mass consists of carbonaceous material (Puxbaum and Wopenka, 1984;Berner et al, 1996;Hughes et al, 1998;Chen et al, 2010;Zhu et al, 2010b). Combustion-derived ultrafine particles, such as diesel soot, are the most numerous particles, by number, in urban PM 10 .…”

“…TC particles act as carriers of toxic compounds inside the human respiratory system causing Chronic Obstructive Respiratory Diseases (CORDs) and/or new pathologies related with the pollutants delivered (Avino et al, 2004). In recent years several worldwide studies on aerosol particle number concentrations and size distribution have been published (Hussein et al, 2003;Buonanno et al, 2009;Buonanno et al, 2010;Chen et al, 2010;Liu et al, 2010;Zhu et al, 2010b). Because of lack of relevant data in the urban area of Rome, a study has been undertaken on UFP number size distribution and composition, starting from measuring carbonaceous particulate matter.…”

“…The EC fraction has a graphitic structure: it is a primary pollutant emitted directly during combustion processes (Avino et al, 2000;Zhu et al, 2010a;Zhu et al, 2010b). The OC fraction is composed by different classes of compounds (hydrocarbons, oxygenated compounds, etc.…”

Characterization of Particulate-Phase High Molecular Weight Mono-Carbonyls (C# > 5) and Dicarbonyls in Urban Atmosphere of Xi’an, China

“…The IMPROVE_A protocol (Zhu et al, 2010;Chow et al, 2011) produces four OC fractions (OC1, OC2, OC3, and OC4 in a helium (He) atmosphere at 140°C, 280°C, 480°C, and 580°C, respectively), a pyrolyzed carbon fraction (OP, determined when reflected laser light attained its original intensity after oxygen (O 2 ) was added to the combustion atmosphere); and three EC fractions (EC1, EC2, and EC3 in a 2% oxygen/ 98% helium atmosphere at 580°C, 740°C, and 840°C, respectively). OC is defined as OC1 + OC2 + OC3 + OC4 + OP and EC as EC1 + EC2 + EC3 -OP.…”

Characteristics of Indoor Aerosols in College Laboratories

“…Numerous papers are found in the literature (Zhu et al, 2010;Masih et al, 2012;Zhu et al, 2012). In general, particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter are called "fine particles" or PM 2.5 (PM with aerodynamic diameters < 2.5 μm).…”