Comparison of the sources and oxidative potential of PM2.5 during winter time in large cities in China and South Korea

Sea-Ho Oh; Kihong Park; Minhan Park; Myoungki Song; Kyoung-Soon Jang; James J Schauer; Gwi-Nam Bae; Min-Suk Bae

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160369

Comparison of the sources and oxidative potential of PM_2.5 during winter time in large cities in China and South Korea

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Feb 10;859(Pt 2):160369. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160369. Epub 2022 Nov 19.

Authors

Sea-Ho Oh¹, Kihong Park², Minhan Park², Myoungki Song¹, Kyoung-Soon Jang³, James J Schauer⁴, Gwi-Nam Bae⁵, Min-Suk Bae⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Engineering, Mokpo National University, Muan 58554, Republic of Korea.
² School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
³ Center for Research Equipment, Korea Basic Science Institute, Cheongju 28119, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison 53705, USA.
⁵ Center for FRIEND Project, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea.
⁶ Department of Environmental Engineering, Mokpo National University, Muan 58554, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: minsbae@mnu.ac.kr.

PMID: 36414057
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160369

Abstract

Regional air pollution is rising in Northeast Asia due to increasing energy consumption resulting from a growing population and intensifying industrialization. This study analyzes the sources of air pollution using fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) sampling from the atmosphere over Korea and China. We then use this analysis to further investigate the relationship between organic compounds (source tracers) and the oxidative potential of PM_2.5. The PM_2.5 concentration during winter measured at a measurement stations in Korea showed no significant variation year-to-year. The PM_2.5 concentrations measured during winter at a site near Beijing, China were 62.45 μg/m³ in 2018 and 33.07 μg/m³ in 2020. The sources, as determined from PMF, were analyzed at a site in Korea, the sources as secondary nitrate (34.10 %), secondary sulfate (20.20 %), coal combustion (4.01 %), vehicle emission (8.55 %), cooking and biomass burning (18.39 %), dust (8.45 %), and SOA (6.29 %) were identified. At a site in China, secondary nitrate (17.54 %), secondary sulfate (12.03 %), coal combustion (15.53 %), vehicle emission (12.43 %), cooking and biomass burning (9.25 %), dust (26.40 %), secondary organic aerosol (6.82 %) were identified. Our results show secondary organic carbon had a positive association with oxidative potential in Korea while primary organic carbon presented higher correlation with oxidative potential in China. Further, the ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) wind field during the high PM_2.5 events demonstrated airflow from the west coast of China resulting in high polar organic compounds at the Korean monitoring site. The results further support that aged PM_2.5, which contains secondary products, leads to increased oxidative potential. The results presented explain the high concentrations of secondary products and the impact on the biological activities of PM_2.5, supporting additional actions to address the impacts of long-range transport of PM_2.5.

Keywords: Organic molecular marker; Oxidation potential; PMF; Source apportionment.

MeSH terms

Aerosols / analysis
Air Pollutants* / analysis
Carbon / analysis
China
Coal / analysis
Dust / analysis
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Nitrates / analysis
Particulate Matter / analysis
Seasons
Sulfates / analysis
Vehicle Emissions* / analysis

Substances

Vehicle Emissions
Air Pollutants
Nitrates
Particulate Matter
Aerosols
Dust
Coal
Carbon
Sulfates