Atmospheric fine particles in a typical coastal port of Yangtze River Delta

Qi Yuan; Xiaomi Teng; Shaoxuan Tu; Binxin Feng; Zhiyu Wu; Hang Xiao; Qiuliang Cai; Yinxiao Zhang; Qiuhan Lin; Zhaoce Liu; Mengmeng He; Xiaokun Ding; Weijun Li

doi:10.1016/j.jes.2020.05.026

Atmospheric fine particles in a typical coastal port of Yangtze River Delta

J Environ Sci (China). 2020 Dec:98:62-70. doi: 10.1016/j.jes.2020.05.026. Epub 2020 Jun 13.

Authors

Qi Yuan¹, Xiaomi Teng², Shaoxuan Tu², Binxin Feng², Zhiyu Wu², Hang Xiao³, Qiuliang Cai⁴, Yinxiao Zhang², Qiuhan Lin², Zhaoce Liu⁵, Mengmeng He⁴, Xiaokun Ding⁶, Weijun Li²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Geoscience Big Data and Deep Resource of Zhejiang Province, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China. Electronic address: 0617473@zju.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Geoscience Big Data and Deep Resource of Zhejiang Province, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
³ Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment & Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo Urban Environment Observation and Research Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315830, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo Urban Environment Observation and Research Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315830, China.
⁵ School of Earth Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, China.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.

PMID: 33097159
DOI: 10.1016/j.jes.2020.05.026

Abstract

In recent decades, coastal ports have experienced rapid development and become an important economic and ecological hub in China. Atmospheric particle is a research hotspot in atmospheric environmental sciences in inland regions. However, few studies on the atmospheric particle were conducted in coastal port areas in China, which indeed suffers atmospheric particle pollution. Lack of the physicochemical characteristics of fine particles serves as an obstacle toward the accurate control for air pollution in the coastal port area in China. Here, a field observation was conducted in an important coastal port city in Yangtze River Delta from March 6 to March 19, 2019. The average PM_2.5 concentration was 63.7 ± 27.8 μg/m³ and NO₃^-, SO₄^2-, NH₄⁺, and organic matter accounted for ~60% of PM_2.5. Fe was the most abundant trace metal element and V as the ship emission indicator was detected. Transmission electron microscopy images showed that SK-rich, soot, Fe, SK-soot and SK-Fe were the major individual particles in the coastal port. V and soluble Fe were detected in sulfate coating of SK-Fe particles. We found that anthropogenic emissions, marine sea salt, and secondary atmosphere process were the major sources of fine particles. Backward trajectory analysis indicated that the dominant air masses were marine air mass, inland air mass from northern Zhejiang and inland-marine mixed air mass from Shandong and Shanghai during the sampling period. The findings can help us better understand the physicochemical properties of atmospheric fine particles in the coastal port of Eastern China.

Keywords: Coastal port; Individual particle; Organic matter; Trace metal; Water-soluble ion.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
China
Cities
Environmental Monitoring
Rivers*

Substances

Air Pollutants