Seasonal variations and chemical compositions of PM 2.5 aerosol in the urban area of Fuzhou, China

  • Lingling Xu
  • , Xiaoqiu Chen
  • , Jinsheng Chen
  • , Fuwang Zhang
  • , Chi He
  • , Jinping Zhao
  • , Liqian Yin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

207 Scopus citations

Abstract

The mass concentrations and chemical compositions (elements, water-soluble ions and carbonaceous species) of PM 2.5 aerosol were detected in the urban area of Fuzhou city across four seasons from April 2007 to January 2008. The mass concentrations of PM 2.5 ranged from 18.45 to 78.89μg/m 3, with the average value of 44.33±16.30μg/m 3. The elemental compositions were dominated by Si, Ca, Fe, K, and Al. SO 4 2-, NO 3 -, and NH 4 + were the major ions, contributing 24.3%, 9.9%, and 8.8% to the total PM 2.5 mass. The concentrations of above ions showed distinct seasonality of 2.2, 8.0, and 5.9 times higher in winter than those in summer, respectively. (NH 4) 2SO 4 and NH 4NO 3 were the main forms in summer and winter and NH 4NO 3 mainly existed in autumn, while (NH 4) 2SO 4, NH 4HSO 4 and NH 4NO 3 existed in spring. The high NO 3 -/SO 4 2- ratio suggested that vehicular exhaust made an important contribution to atmospheric pollution. TC occupied 24.1% of PM 2.5 mass, with a distribution of 19.2% OC and 4.9% EC. OC and EC had the common dominant sources in spring due to their strong correlation. The OC/EC ratio showed obviously seasonal distribution of 5.0 in spring, 2.7 in summer, 3.6 in autumn, and 4.2 in winter. The material balance analysis indicated that the fractions of major chemical species in PM 2.5 were in the following order: OM>sulfate>soil dust>nitrate>ammonium>EC>chloride.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)264-272
Number of pages9
JournalAtmospheric Research
Volume104-105
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Carbonaceous species
  • Elements
  • Fuzhou city
  • PM
  • Seasonal variations
  • Water-soluble ions

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