Peroxyacetyl nitrate can be used as a comprehensive indicator of air pollution complex

Yanyu Kang; Yinghong Wang; Mengtian Cheng; Qin Wang; Xiaojuan Huang; Baoxian Liu; Yiming Wang; Guiqian Tang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123905

Peroxyacetyl nitrate can be used as a comprehensive indicator of air pollution complex

Environ Pollut. 2024 May 15:349:123905. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123905. Epub 2024 Apr 3.

Authors

Yanyu Kang¹, Yinghong Wang², Mengtian Cheng², Qin Wang³, Xiaojuan Huang⁴, Baoxian Liu³, Yiming Wang⁵, Guiqian Tang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China; Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Extreme Meteorology, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
² Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Extreme Meteorology, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
³ Beijing Key Laboratory of Airborne Particulate Matter Monitoring Technology, Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center, Beijing, 100048, China.
⁴ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
⁵ China Meteorological Administration Institute for Development and Programme Design (CMAIDP), Beijing 100081, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Extreme Meteorology, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: tgq@dq.cern.ac.cn.

PMID: 38580062
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123905

Abstract

With the acceleration of air cleaning activities in China, air pollution has entered a new stage characterized by seasonal interplay and predominance of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and ozone (O₃) pollutants. However, the differing peak seasons of these two pollution preclude the use of a unified indicator for air pollution complex. Given that peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) originates from secondary formation and persists under low-temperature conditions for extended periods, it is vital to determine whether its concentration can be used as an indicator to represent air pollution, not only in summer but also in winter. Here, PAN observational data from 2018 to 2022 for Beijing were analyzed. The results showed that during photochemical pollution events in summer, secondary formation of PAN was intense and highly correlated with O₃ (R = 0.8), while during PM_2.5 pollution events in winter, when the lifetime of PAN is extended due to the low temperature, the PAN concentration was highly consistent with the PM_2.5 concentration (R = 0.9). As a result, the PAN concentration essentially exhibited consistency with both the seasonal trends in the exceedance of air pollution (R = 0.6) and the air quality index (R = 0.8). When the daily average concentration exceeds 0.5 and 0.9 ppb, the PAN concentration can be used as a complementary indicator of the occurrence of primary and secondary standard pollution, respectively. This study demonstrated the unique role of PAN as an indicator of air pollution complex, highlighting the comprehensive ability for air quality characterization and reducing the burden of atmospheric environment management.

Keywords: AQI; Air pollution complex; Indicator; O(3); PAN; PM(2.5).

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution* / statistics & numerical data
Beijing
China
Environmental Monitoring* / methods
Ozone* / analysis
Particulate Matter* / analysis
Peracetic Acid* / analogs & derivatives*
Peracetic Acid* / analysis
Seasons*

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter
peroxyacetyl nitrate
Ozone
Peracetic Acid