Particulate matter pollution over China and the effects of control policies

Jiandong Wang; Bin Zhao; Shuxiao Wang; Fumo Yang; Jia Xing; Lidia Morawska; Aijun Ding; Markku Kulmala; Veli-Matti Kerminen; Joni Kujansuu; Zifa Wang; Dian Ding; Xiaoye Zhang; Huanbo Wang; Mi Tian; Tuukka Petäjä; Jingkun Jiang; Jiming Hao

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.01.027

Particulate matter pollution over China and the effects of control policies

Sci Total Environ. 2017 Apr 15:584-585:426-447. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.01.027. Epub 2017 Jan 23.

Authors

Jiandong Wang¹, Bin Zhao², Shuxiao Wang³, Fumo Yang⁴, Jia Xing¹, Lidia Morawska⁵, Aijun Ding⁶, Markku Kulmala⁷, Veli-Matti Kerminen⁸, Joni Kujansuu⁸, Zifa Wang⁹, Dian Ding¹, Xiaoye Zhang¹⁰, Huanbo Wang¹¹, Mi Tian¹¹, Tuukka Petäjä⁸, Jingkun Jiang¹, Jiming Hao¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Sources and Control of Air Pollution Complex, Beijing 100084, China.
² Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
³ State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Sources and Control of Air Pollution Complex, Beijing 100084, China. Electronic address: shxwang@tsinghua.edu.cn.
⁴ Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China; Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China. Electronic address: fmyang@cigit.ac.cn.
⁵ International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia. Electronic address: l.morawska@qut.edu.au.
⁶ Joint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, 210023 Nanjing, China.
⁷ Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: markku.kulmala@helsinki.fi.
⁸ Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
⁹ State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100029 Beijing, China.
¹⁰ Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Compositions, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, CMA, Beijing 100081, China.
¹¹ Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China.

PMID: 28126285
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.01.027

Abstract

China is one of the regions with highest PM_2.5 concentration in the world. In this study, we review the spatio-temporal distribution of PM_2.5 mass concentration and components in China and the effect of control measures on PM_2.5 concentrations. Annual averaged PM_2.5 concentrations in Central-Eastern China reached over 100μgm^-3, in some regions even over 150μgm^-3. In 2013, only 4.1% of the cities attained the annual average standard of 35μgm^-3. Aitken mode particles tend to dominate the total particle number concentration. Depending on the location and time of the year, new particle formation (NPF) has been observed to take place between about 10 and 60% of the days. In most locations, NPF was less frequent at high PM mass loadings. The secondary inorganic particles (i.e., sulfate, nitrate and ammonium) ranked the highest fraction among the PM_2.5 species, followed by organic matters (OM), crustal species and element carbon (EC), which accounted for 6-50%, 15-51%, 5-41% and 2-12% of PM_2.5, respectively. In response to serious particulate matter pollution, China has taken aggressive steps to improve air quality in the last decade. As a result, the national emissions of primary PM_2.5, sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and nitrogen oxides (NO_X) have been decreasing since 2005, 2006, and 2011, respectively. The emission control policies implemented in the last decade could result in noticeable reduction in PM_2.5 concentrations, contributing to the decreasing PM_2.5 trends observed in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. However, the control policies issued before 2010 are insufficient to improve PM_2.5 air quality notably in future. An optimal mix of energy-saving and end-of-pipe control measures should be implemented, more ambitious control policies for NMVOC and NH₃ should be enforced, and special control measures in winter should be applied. 40-70% emissions should be cut off to attain PM_2.5 standard.

Keywords: Chemical speciation; China; Control policies; Metropolitan regions; PM(2.5).

Publication types

Review