Abundance of organosulfates derived from biogenic volatile organic compounds: Seasonal and spatial contrasts at four sites in China

Yuchen Wang; Yingge Ma; Binyu Kuang; Peng Lin; Yongmei Liang; Cheng Huang; Jian Zhen Yu

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151275

Abundance of organosulfates derived from biogenic volatile organic compounds: Seasonal and spatial contrasts at four sites in China

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Feb 1;806(Pt 3):151275. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151275. Epub 2021 Oct 28.

Authors

Yuchen Wang¹, Yingge Ma², Binyu Kuang³, Peng Lin⁴, Yongmei Liang⁵, Cheng Huang², Jian Zhen Yu⁶

Affiliations

¹ Division of Environment and Sustainability, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
² State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of the Formation and Prevention of Urban Air Pollution Complex, Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, China University of Petroleum, Changping, Beijing, China.
⁶ Division of Environment and Sustainability, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong; Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Electronic address: jian.yu@ust.hk.

PMID: 34743888
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151275

Abstract

Atmospheric organosulfates (OSs) derived from biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) encode chemical interaction strength between anthroposphere and biosphere. We report BVOC-derived OSs in the summer of 2016 and the winter of 2017 at four locations in China (i.e., Hong Kong (HK), Guangzhou (GZ), Shanghai (SH), and Beijing (BJ)). The spatial coverage of three climatic zones from the south to the north in China is accompanied with a wide range of aerosol inorganic sulfate (4.9-13.8 μg/m³). We employed a combined targeted and untargeted approach using high-performance liquid chromatography-Orbitrap mass spectrometry to quantify/semi-quantify ~200 OSs and nitrooxy OSs derived from four types of precursors, namely C₂-C₃ oxygenated VOCs, isoprene, monoterpenes (MT), and sesquiterpenes (ST). The seasonal averages of the total quantified OSs across the four sites are in the range of 201-545 (summer) and 123-234 ng/m³ (winter), with the isoprene-derived OSs accounting for more than 80% (summer) and 57% (winter). The C₂_-₃ OSs and isoprene-derived OSs share the same seasonality (summer >winter) and the same south-north spatial gradient as those of isoprene emissions. In contrast, the MT- and ST-derived OSs are of either comparable abundance or slightly higher abundance in winter at the four sites. The spatial contrasts for MT- and ST-derived OSs are not clearly discernable among GZ, SH, and BJ. HK is noted to have invariably lower abundances of all groups of OSs, in line with its aerosol inorganic sulfate being the lowest. These results indicate that BVOC emissions are the driving factor regulating the formation of C₂_-₃ OSs and isoprene-derived OSs. Other factors, such as sulfate abundance, however, play a more important role in the formation of MT- and ST-derived OSs. This in turn suggests that the formation kinetics and/or pathways differ between these two sub-groups of BVOCs-derived OSs.

Keywords: Biogenic volatile organic compounds; Nitrooxy organosulfates; Organosulfates; Secondary organic aerosols; Sulfate; Sulfur pollution.

MeSH terms

Aerosols / analysis
Air Pollutants* / analysis
China
Mass Spectrometry
Seasons
Volatile Organic Compounds* / analysis

Substances

Aerosols
Air Pollutants
Volatile Organic Compounds