| Title: | Volatile organic compounds in wintertime North China Plain: Insights from measurements of proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS) |
| Author(s): | He X; Yuan B; Wu C; Wang S; Wang C; Huangfu Y; Qi J; Ma N; Xu W; Wang M; Chen W; Su H; Cheng Y; Shao M; |
| Address: | "Institute for Environmental and Climate Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511443, China; Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Joint Laboratory of Collaborative Innovation for Environmental Quality, Guangzhou 511443, China. Institute for Environmental and Climate Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511443, China; Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Joint Laboratory of Collaborative Innovation for Environmental Quality, Guangzhou 511443, China. Electronic address: byuan@jnu.edu.cn. State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather & Key Laboratory for Atmospheric Chemistry of China Meteorology Administration, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China. Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China. Nanjing Intelligent Environmental Science and Technology Co., Ltd., Nanjing 211800, China. Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz 55128, Germany" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jes.2021.08.010 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1001-0742 (Print) 1001-0742 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The characteristics of wintertime volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the North China Plain (NCP) region are complicated and remain obscure. VOC measurements were conducted by a proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS) at a rural site in the NCP from November to December 2018. Uncalibrated ions measured by PTR-ToF-MS were quantified and the overall VOC compositions were investigated by combining the measurements of PTR-ToF-MS and gas chromatography-mass spectrometer/flame ionization detector (GC-MS/FID). The measurement showed that although atmospheric VOCs concentrations are often dominated by primary emissions, the secondary formation of oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) is non-negligible in the wintertime, i.e., OVOCs accounts for 42% +/- 7% in the total VOCs (151.3 +/- 75.6 ppbV). We demonstrated that PTR-MS measurements for isoprene are substantially overestimated due to the interferences of cycloalkanes. The chemical changes of organic carbon in a pollution accumulation period were investigated, which suggests an essential role of fragmentation reactions for large, chemically reduced compounds during the heavy-polluted stage in wintertime pollution. The changes of emission ratios of VOCs between winter 2011 and winter 2018 in the NCP support the positive effect of 'coal to gas' strategies in curbing air pollutants. The high abundances of some key species (e.g. oxygenated aromatics) indicate the strong emissions of coal combustion in wintertime of NCP. The ratio of naphthalene to C8 aromatics was proposed as a potential indicator of the influence of coal combustion on VOCs" |
| Keywords: | *Air Pollutants/analysis China Coal Environmental Monitoring Protons Reaction Time *Volatile Organic Compounds/analysis North China Plain PTR-ToF-MS Volatile organic compound Wintertime; |
| Notes: | "MedlineHe, Xianjun Yuan, Bin Wu, Caihong Wang, Sihang Wang, Chaomin Huangfu, Yibo Qi, Jipeng Ma, Nan Xu, Wanyun Wang, Ming Chen, Wentai Su, Hang Cheng, Yafang Shao, Min eng Netherlands 2022/04/24 J Environ Sci (China). 2022 Apr; 114:98-114. doi: 10.1016/j.jes.2021.08.010. Epub 2022 Jan 14" |
