Skip to main content
Log in

Characteristics of water-soluble organic acids in PM2.5 during haze and Chinese Spring Festival in winter of Jinan, China: concentrations, formations, and source apportionments

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

PM2.5 aerosols from Jinan (36°256′N, 117°106′E) in the North China Plain region were investigated for water-soluble organic acids (WSOAs, i.e., oxalic acid, formic acid, acetic acid, methanesulfonic acid (MSA), and lactic acid) during 30 December 2016 to 21 February 2017. The average PM2.5 concentration was 168.77 μg/m3 with about 90.74% samples beyond the National Ambient Air Quality (NAAQ) standards (Grade II). The total concentration of the measured WSOAs averaged at 1.34 μg/m3, contributing to 0.80% of PM2.5 mass. In the observation, acetic acid was the most abundant WSOA, followed by oxalic acid, lactic acid, formic acid, and MSA. During the period, serious haze events frequently happened. The average concentrations of PM2.5 and every WSOA species were higher in haze than those in non-haze. The correlations among species suggested that WSOAs in haze had complicated sources and secondary pathways, especially aqueous-phase reactions which played an important role on WSOAs. The concentrations of WSOAs declined in the Spring Festival compared with those in the non-Spring Festival due to holiday effect. Fireworks burning during the Spring Festival had different influences on WSOAs with slight increases for acetic acid and lactic acid. Five source factors were identified by positive matrix factorization (PMF) model for five WSOAs, respectively, and the results revealed that secondary reactions were the main sources of WSOAs in haze.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Download references

Acknowledgments

Our deepest gratitude goes to the editors and the reviewers for their help in improving the quality of manuscript.

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos. 21507070 and 91544213), Open Project Program of Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials of Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xuehua Zhou.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Constantini Samara

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tang, S., Zhou, X., Zhang, J. et al. Characteristics of water-soluble organic acids in PM2.5 during haze and Chinese Spring Festival in winter of Jinan, China: concentrations, formations, and source apportionments. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 12122–12137 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07714-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07714-7

Keywords

Navigation