Pollution characteristics of organic and elemental carbon in PM2.5 in Xiamen city, China
ZHANG Fuwang, ZHAO Jinping, CHEN Jinsheng*, XU Ling ling
Xiamen, located in the southeastern coastal line of China, is undergoing rapid urbanization and industrialization, and its air quality has a trend of degradation. However, studies on the level and seasonal variation of fine particle (PM2.5) as well as the carbonaceous fractions are scarce. In this study, abundance and seasonal distribution of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in PM2.5, were studied at different environmental sites in Xiamen during four season-representative months in 2009~2010. Results showed that concentrations of PM2.5 ranked in the order of summer<spring<autumn<winter. OC and EC in PM2.5 also exhibited a clear seasonal pattern that was similar to PM2.5 mass. The carbon distributions of primary organic carbon (POC), secondary organic carbon (SOC), and EC accounted for about 45.2 %, 36.3 %, and 18.5 % of total carbon (TC, sum of OC and EC) in summer, respectively. While in the other three seasons, the SOC proportion increased with the POC and EC proportion decreasing, this difference might be mainly attributed to the variation of meteorological conditions.
Key words:fine particle; carbonaceous aerosol; organic carbon; elemental carbon; carbonaceous species
Volume:23
Page:1342-1348
Journal:Journal of Environmental Sciences