Characteristics and Source Apportionment of Metallic Elements in PM<sub>2.5</sub> at Urban and Suburban Sites in Beijing: Implication of Emission Reduction
Miaoling Li,
Zirui Liu,
Jing Chen,
Xiaojuan Huang,
Jingyun Liu,
Yuzhu Xie,
Bo Hu,
Zhongjun Xu,
Yuanxun Zhang,
Yuesi Wang
Affiliations
Miaoling Li
State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry (LAPC), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Zirui Liu
State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry (LAPC), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Jing Chen
Beijing Meteorological Information Center, Beijing 100089, China
Xiaojuan Huang
State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry (LAPC), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Jingyun Liu
State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry (LAPC), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Yuzhu Xie
State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry (LAPC), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Bo Hu
State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry (LAPC), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Zhongjun Xu
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Yuanxun Zhang
College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Yuesi Wang
State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry (LAPC), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
To gain insights into the impacts of emission reduction measures on the characteristics and sources of trace elements during the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, PM2.5 samples were simultaneously collected from an urban site and a suburban site in Beijing from September 15th to November 12th, and fifteen metallic elements were analyzed, including five crustal elements (Mg, Al, K, Ca and Fe), nine trace metals (V, Cr, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Ag, Cd and Pb) and As. Most of the trace metals (V, Cr, Mn, As, Cd and Pb) decreased more than 40% due to the emission regulations during APEC, while the crustal elements decreased considerably (4⁻45%). Relative to the daytime, trace metals increased during the nighttime at both sites before the APEC summit, but no significant difference was observed during the APEC summit, suggesting suppressed emissions from anthropogenic activities. Five sources (dust, traffic exhaust, industrial sources, coal and oil combustion and biomass burning) were resolved using positive matrix factorization (PMF), which were collectively decreased by 30.7% at the urban site and 14.4% at the suburban site during the APEC summit. Coal and oil combustion regulations were the most effective for reducing the trace elements concentrations (urban site: 63.1%; suburban site: 52.0%), followed by measures to reduce traffic exhaust (52.8%) at the urban site and measures to reduce biomass burning (37.7%) at the suburban site. Our results signify that future control efforts of metallic elements in megacities like Beijing should prioritize coal and oil combustion, as well as traffic emissions.
