Seasonal variations and sources of mass and chemical composition for PM10 aerosol in Hangzhou, China

Abstract

Aerosol observation was conducted for four seasons from September 2001 to August 2002 at five sampling sites in Hangzhou, South China, on PM10 mass, 22 elements (Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Br, Cd, Ba, and Pb), 5 major ions (F-, Cl-, NO3-, SO42-, and NH4+), and organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), showing that PM10 mass ranged from 46.7 to 270.8 μg/m3, with an annual average of 119.2 μg/m3. Na, Al, Si, S, K, Ca, and Fe were the most abundant elements in PM10, most of S being in the form of SO42-. SO42-, NO3-, and NH4+ were the major ions, which contributed to about 20% of the PM10 mass. The mean seasonal concentrations for SO42-, averaged over all sites, were found to be 18.0, 18.5, 24.7, and 21.4 μg/m3, for spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively, while the corresponding loadings for NO3- were 7.2, 4.7, 7.1, and 11.2 μg/m3, and for NH4+ were 6.0, 5.9, 8.2, and 9.3 μg/m3, in the form mostly of NH4NO3 in spring, autumn, and winter, and mostly of (NH4)2SO4 in summer. The low NO3-/SO42- ratio found indicates coal combustion as the major source throughout the year. The mean annual concentrations of OC and EC in PM10 were found to be 21.4, and 4.1 μg/m3, respectively. Material balance calculation indicated that fugitive dust, the secondary aerosol, and carbonaceous matter were the most abundant species in PM10 for the four seasons, as is characteristic for cities in South China. © 2009 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences.