The importance of hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS) in winter haze episodes in North China Plain

Chun Chen; Zhiqiang Zhang; Lianfang Wei; Yanmei Qiu; Weiqi Xu; Shaojie Song; Jiaxing Sun; Zhijie Li; Yunle Chen; Nan Ma; Wanyun Xu; Xiaole Pan; Pingqing Fu; Yele Sun

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.113093

The importance of hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS) in winter haze episodes in North China Plain

Environ Res. 2022 Aug:211:113093. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113093. Epub 2022 Mar 12.

Authors

Chun Chen¹, Zhiqiang Zhang¹, Lianfang Wei², Yanmei Qiu¹, Weiqi Xu², Shaojie Song³, Jiaxing Sun¹, Zhijie Li¹, Yunle Chen⁴, Nan Ma⁵, Wanyun Xu⁶, Xiaole Pan², Pingqing Fu⁷, Yele Sun⁸

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China; College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China.
³ School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
⁴ Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA.
⁵ Institute for Environmental and Climate Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 511443, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather & Key Laboratory for Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Composition, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
⁷ College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China; College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China. Electronic address: sunyele@mail.iap.ac.cn.

PMID: 35292245
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113093

Abstract

Hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS), a key marker species of aqueous-phase processing, plays a significant role in sulfur budget in atmosphere. Here we have a comprehensive characterization of HMS at urban and rural sites in North China Plain (NCP) by using the real-time measurements from a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and a single-particle AMS together with offline filter analysis. Our results showed much higher winter concentration of HMS at the rural site (average±1σ: 2.58 ± 2.56 μg m^-3) than that (1.70 ± 2.68 μg m^-3) in Beijing due to the more frequent fog events, low particle acidity and high concentration of precursors. The HMS on average contributed 6.3% and 5.2% to organic aerosol (OA), and 16% and 12% to the total particulate sulfur, at the rural and urban sites, respectively. HMS was highly correlated with aqueous-phase secondary OA and sulfate, and its contribution to the total particulate sulfur increased significantly as a function of relative humidity demonstrating the effective HMS production from aqueous-phase processing. Single-particle analysis showed that HMS-containing particles were mainly mixed with amine-related compounds. In addition, we found that organosulfur compounds (OS) estimated from sulfur-containing fragments of AMS correlated well with HMS at both urban and rural sites. While OS at the rural site was dominated by HMS, other types of OS were also important in urban area. The high HMS also affected the estimation of particle acidity using the AMS measured and predicted ammonium, particularly during severe haze episodes. Overall, our results demonstrated the importance of HMS in winter in NCP, and it could be more important in total particulate sulfur budget as the continuous decrease in sulfate in the future.

Keywords: Aerosol mass spectrometer; Aqueous-phase processing; Hydroxymethanesulfonate; North China Plain; Organosulfur compounds.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aerosols / analysis
Air Pollutants* / analysis
China
Dust / analysis
Environmental Monitoring
Particulate Matter* / analysis
Sulfates
Sulfur / analysis
Water / analysis

Substances

Aerosols
Air Pollutants
Dust
Particulate Matter
Sulfates
Water
Sulfur