Heavy near-surface PM2.5 pollution in Lhasa, China during a relatively static winter period

Chaoliu Li; Xiaowen Han; Shichang Kang; Fangping Yan; Pengfei Chen; Zhaofu Hu; Junhua Yang; Duojie Ciren; Shaopeng Gao; Mika Sillanpää; Yongming Han; Yuyan Cui; Shang Liu; Kirk R Smith

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.09.135

Heavy near-surface PM_2.5 pollution in Lhasa, China during a relatively static winter period

Chemosphere. 2019 Jan:214:314-318. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.09.135. Epub 2018 Sep 22.

Authors

Chaoliu Li¹, Xiaowen Han², Shichang Kang³, Fangping Yan⁴, Pengfei Chen⁵, Zhaofu Hu⁶, Junhua Yang⁷, Duojie Ciren⁸, Shaopeng Gao⁹, Mika Sillanpää¹⁰, Yongming Han¹¹, Yuyan Cui¹², Shang Liu¹³, Kirk R Smith¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Laboratory of Green Chemistry, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Sammonkatu 12, FI-50130 Mikkeli, Finland. Electronic address: lichaoliu@itpcas.ac.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: hanxiaowen@itpcas.ac.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: shichang.kang@lzb.ac.cn.
⁴ Laboratory of Green Chemistry, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Sammonkatu 12, FI-50130 Mikkeli, Finland. Electronic address: freefly347@126.com.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China. Electronic address: chenpengfeifeifei@126.com.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: huzf11@lzu.edu.cn.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China. Electronic address: yangjunhua@lzb.ac.cn.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: 1051546753@qq.com.
⁹ Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: gaoshaopeng@itpcas.ac.cn.
¹⁰ Laboratory of Green Chemistry, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Sammonkatu 12, FI-50130 Mikkeli, Finland. Electronic address: mika.sillanpaa@lut.fi.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of Aerosol Chemistry & Physics and SKLLQG, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 710061 Xi'an, China. Electronic address: yongming@ieecas.cn.
¹² Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, United States; Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, United States. Electronic address: cuiyuyan112@gmail.com.
¹³ School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China. Electronic address: shangliu@ustc.edu.cn.
¹⁴ Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, USA. Electronic address: krksmith@berkeley.edu.

PMID: 30267904
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.09.135

Abstract

Fairly high near-surface PM_2.5 concentrations were found during relatively static winter conditions within Lhasa - a Tibetan Plateau city normally considered to have a clean atmosphere. The average daily PM_2.5 concentration reached 118 ± 60 μg m^-3 during the study period, was approximately 3.4 times the United States Environmental Protection Agency 24-h standard. PM_2.5 concentration of Lhasa increased from 20:00 until 23:00, which was probably caused by space heating, waste incineration activities and decreased boundary layer at night. Furthermore, we found traditional religious butter lamp lighting of local Tibetan residents during festivals could cause PM_2.5 concentration to reach an alarmingly high level, 240 ± 30 μg m^-3. Therefore, to protect the atmosphere of Lhasa, the government may wish to conduct more complete monitoring and find ways to encourage clean heating and cooking fuels, enforce the supervision on illegal emission activities such as waste incineration, and guide residents to transfer to more environmentally friendly activities during festivals.

Keywords: Air pollution; Butter lamp lighting; Festivals; Tibetan Plateau.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants / analysis
Air Pollution / analysis*
China
Cities
Cooking
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollution / prevention & control*
Heating
Particulate Matter / analysis*
Seasons*

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter