PM2.5 concentration and composition in the urban air of Nanjing, China: Effects of emission control measures applied during the 2014 Youth Olympic Games

Mirella Miettinen; Ari Leskinen; Gülcin Abbaszade; Jürgen Orasche; Maija Sainio; Santtu Mikkonen; Hanna Koponen; Teemu Rönkkö; Jarno Ruusunen; Kari Kuuspalo; Petri Tiitta; Pasi Jalava; Liqing Hao; Die Fang; Qingeng Wang; Cheng Gu; Yu Zhao; Bernhard Michalke; Jürgen Schnelle-Kreis; Kari E J Lehtinen; Ralf Zimmermann; Mika Komppula; Jorma Jokiniemi; Maija-Riitta Hirvonen; Olli Sippula

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.191

PM_2.5 concentration and composition in the urban air of Nanjing, China: Effects of emission control measures applied during the 2014 Youth Olympic Games

Sci Total Environ. 2019 Feb 20:652:1-18. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.191. Epub 2018 Oct 15.

Authors

Mirella Miettinen¹, Ari Leskinen², Gülcin Abbaszade³, Jürgen Orasche⁴, Maija Sainio⁵, Santtu Mikkonen⁶, Hanna Koponen⁵, Teemu Rönkkö⁵, Jarno Ruusunen⁵, Kari Kuuspalo⁵, Petri Tiitta⁵, Pasi Jalava⁵, Liqing Hao⁶, Die Fang⁷, Qingeng Wang⁷, Cheng Gu⁷, Yu Zhao⁷, Bernhard Michalke⁸, Jürgen Schnelle-Kreis³, Kari E J Lehtinen², Ralf Zimmermann⁴, Mika Komppula⁹, Jorma Jokiniemi⁵, Maija-Riitta Hirvonen⁵, Olli Sippula¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio FI-70211, Finland. Electronic address: mirella.miettinen@uef.fi.
² Finnish Meteorological Institute, Kuopio FI-70211, Finland; Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio FI-70211, Finland.
³ Joint Mass Spectrometry Centre - Cooperation Group "Comprehensive Molecular Analytics", Helmholtz Zentrum München, 81764 Neuherberg, Germany.
⁴ Joint Mass Spectrometry Centre - Cooperation Group "Comprehensive Molecular Analytics", Helmholtz Zentrum München, 81764 Neuherberg, Germany; Joint Mass Spectrometry Centre - Institute of Chemistry, Division of Analytical and Technical Chemistry, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany.
⁵ Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio FI-70211, Finland.
⁶ Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio FI-70211, Finland.
⁷ Nanjing University, School of the Environment, 210023 Nanjing, China.
⁸ Research Unit Analytical BioGeoChemistry, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 81764 Neuherberg, Germany.
⁹ Finnish Meteorological Institute, Kuopio FI-70211, Finland.
¹⁰ Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio FI-70211, Finland; Department of Chemistry, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland.

PMID: 30347308
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.191

Abstract

Industrial processes, coal combustion, biomass burning (BB), and vehicular transport are important sources of atmospheric fine particles (PM_2.5) and contribute to ambient air concentrations of health-hazardous species, such as heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and oxygenated-PAHs (OPAH). In China, emission controls have been implemented to improve air quality during large events, like the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in August 2014 in Nanjing. In this work, six measurement campaigns between January 2014 and August 2015 were undertaken in Nanjing to determine the effects of emission controls and meteorological factors on PM_2.5 concentration and composition. PAHs, OPAHs, hopanes, n‑alkanes, heavy metals, and several other inorganic elements were measured. PM_2.5 and potassium concentrations were the highest in May-June 2014 indicating the prevalence of BB plumes in Nanjing. Emission controls substantially reduced concentrations of PM_2.5 (31%), total PAHs (59%), OPAHs (37%), and most heavy metals (44-89%) during the YOG compared to August 2015. In addition, regional atmospheric transport and meteorological parameters partly explained the observed differences between the campaigns. The most abundant PAHs and OPAHs were benzo[b,k]fluoranthenes, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, 1,8‑naphthalic anhydride, and 9,10‑anthracenedione in all campaigns. Carbon preference index and the contribution of wax n‑alkanes indicated mainly biogenic sources of n‑alkanes in May-June 2014 and anthropogenic sources in the other campaigns. Hopane indexes pointed to vehicular transport as the major source of hopanes, but contribution of coal combustion was detected in winter 2015. The results provide evidence to the local government of the impacts of the air protection regulations. However, differences between individual components were observed, e.g., concentrations of potentially more harmful OPAHs decreased less than concentrations of PAHs. The results suggest that the proportions of hazardous components in the PM_2.5 may also change considerably due to emission control measures.

Keywords: Aerosol; Air quality; Chemical composition; Fine particles; Health effects.