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Source apportionments of PM2.5 organic carbon during the elevated pollution episodes in the Ordos region, Inner Mongolia, China

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Abstract

The Ordos region in the southwestern part of Inner Mongolia experiences frequent PM concentrations in excess of the national PM2.5 air quality standards. In order to determine the key sources of PM2.5 contributing to these pollution episodes, the main sources of PM2.5 OC during elevated PM episodes in the Inner Mongolia were analyzed and compared with non-polluted days. This will provide insight to the main sources of particulate matter pollution during the high-pollution episodes and the effective seasonal strategies to control sources of particulate matter during months and with the highest PM concentrations that need to be controlled. The PMF source contributions to OC demonstrated that the industrial/coal combustion (4762.77 ± 1061.54 versus 2726.49 ± 469.75 ng/m3; p < 0.001) and mobile source factors (4651.14 ± 681.82 versus 2605.55 ± 276.50 ng/m3; p value < 0.001) showed greater contributions to the elevated concentrations during the episode. The spatial analysis of secondary organic carbon (SOC) factors, regional biomass burning, and biogenic sources did not show significant difference in the pollution episodes and the non-polluted months. In addition, the bivariate polar plots and CWT maps of the industrial/coal combustion and mobile illustrated a regional long-range transport patterns from the external sources to the study area, however, adjacent areas were mostly controlling the contributions of these factors during the PM elevated episodes. The SOC sources, regional biomass burning, and biogenic sources illustrated a regional long-range transport with similar locations found during the elevated pollution episodes compared to the normal situations.

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Acknowledgements

This publication was made possible with the support of CAS-TWAS President’s Postgraduate Fellowship Program. We would like to appreciate Dr. Bhupati Neupane, Dr., Wei Huang and Dr. Yuqin Wang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for their support in data analysis and preparations.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFC0503607) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91543122).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Reza Bashiri Khuzestani, Jing Shang, Tianqi Cai, Dongqing Fang & Yuanxun Zhang

  2. Huairou Eco-Environmental Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Reza Bashiri Khuzestani, Jing Shang, Tianqi Cai, Dongqing Fang & Yuanxun Zhang

  3. Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    James J. Schauer

  4. China State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment & Environmental Standards Institute, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Yongjie Wei & Lulu Zhang

  5. CAS Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China

    Yuanxun Zhang

  6. Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Yuanxun Zhang

Authors
  1. Reza Bashiri Khuzestani
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  2. James J. Schauer
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  3. Jing Shang
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  4. Tianqi Cai
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  6. Yongjie Wei
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  7. Lulu Zhang
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  8. Yuanxun Zhang
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Correspondence to Yuanxun Zhang.

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Responsible editor: Constantini Samara

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Khuzestani, R.B., Schauer, J.J., Shang, J. et al. Source apportionments of PM2.5 organic carbon during the elevated pollution episodes in the Ordos region, Inner Mongolia, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 13159–13172 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1514-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1514-4

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