| Title: | Worsening ozone air pollution with reduced NO(x) and VOCs in the Pearl River Delta region in autumn 2019: Implications for national control policy in China |
| Author(s): | Zhao M; Zhang Y; Pei C; Chen T; Mu J; Liu Y; Wang Y; Wang W; Xue L; |
| Address: | "Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266237, China. State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510640, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Guangzhou Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, China; Guangdong Provincial Observation and Research Station for Climate Environment and Air Quality Change in the Pearl River Estuary, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510275, China. Guangzhou Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, China. Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266237, China; Collaborative Innovation Center for Climate Change, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, China. Electronic address: xuelikun@sdu.edu.cn" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116327 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1095-8630 (Electronic) 0301-4797 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Ozone (O(3)) pollution has emerged as a major air quality issue in China. Here we emphasize the great challenges in controlling O(3) pollution by analyzing the recent experience of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in southern China in reducing the autumn O(3) peaks. Despite significant reductions in the concentration of O(3) precursors, i.e., nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), regional O(3) pollution in the PRD was largely worse in autumn 2019 than in autumn 2018. We found that the supra-regional and regional background concentrations of O(3) increased significantly in the PRD in autumn 2019 due to increased concentrations of O(3) in the vast surrounding areas. We also observed slight increases in the concentrations of PRD-regionally and Guangzhou-locally produced O(3). A chemical box-model analysis confirmed a slight increase in the in-situ production of O(3) and revealed that increased biogenic VOCs (BVOCs) and decreased NO(x) levels negated the effect of significant decrease in the anthropogenic VOCs. Taken together, these aspects exacerbated O(3) pollution in the PRD region in autumn 2019 relative to autumn 2018. The findings from this study highlight the strong interactions of O(3) pollution over multiple regions and the need for collaborative inter-regional efforts to control O(3) pollution. The experience of PRD also underlines the key role of BVOCs and the importance of science-based strategies to decrease VOCs and NO(x)" |
| Keywords: | *Ozone/analysis *Volatile Organic Compounds/analysis *Air Pollutants/analysis Environmental Monitoring *Air Pollution/analysis Policy China Chemical box model O(3) isopleth diagram Ozone The Pearl River Delta region Volatile organic compounds; |
| Notes: | "MedlineZhao, Min Zhang, Yingnan Pei, Chenglei Chen, Tianshu Mu, Jiangshan Liu, Yuhong Wang, Yujun Wang, Wenxing Xue, Likun eng England 2022/10/03 J Environ Manage. 2022 Dec 15; 324:116327. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116327. Epub 2022 Sep 30" |
