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Tracer-based source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in PM2.5 in Guangzhou, southern China, using positive matrix factorization (PMF)

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Abstract

From 28 November to 23 December 2009, 24-h PM2.5 samples were collected simultaneously at six sites in Guangzhou. Concentrations of 18 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) together with certain molecular tracers for vehicular emissions (i.e., hopanes and elemental carbon), coal combustion (i.e., picene), and biomass burning (i.e., levoglucosan) were determined. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) receptor model combined with tracer data was applied to explore the source contributions to PAHs. Three sources were identified by both inspecting the dominant tracer(s) in each factor and comparing source profiles derived from PMF with determined profiles in Guangzhou or in the Pearl River Delta region. The three sources identified were vehicular emissions (VE), biomass burning (BB), and coal combustion (CC), accounting for 11 ± 2 %, 31 ± 4 %, and 58 ± 4 % of the total PAHs, respectively. CC replaced VE to become the most important source of PAHs in Guangzhou, reflecting the effective control of VE in recent years. The three sources had different contributions to PAHs with different ring sizes, with higher BB contributions (75 ± 3 %) to four-ring PAHs such as pyrene and higher CC contributions (57 ± 4 %) to six-ring PAHs such as benzo[ghi]perylene. Temporal variations of VE and CC contributions were probably caused by the change of weather conditions, while temporal variations of BB contributions were additionally influenced by the fluctuation of BB emissions. Source contributions also showed some spatial variations, probably due to the source emission variations near the sampling sites.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 40821003/41025012), the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Project No. PolyU 5179/09E), and the Joint Scheme of National Natural Science Foundation of China and Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (NSFC/RGC joint project No. N_PolyU545/09). This project was partially supported by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Internal Fund (project No. A-PL40).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Bo Gao, Xin-Ming Wang, Xiu-Ying Zhao, Zhou Zhang & Teng-Yu Liu

  2. Air Quality Studies, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Bo Gao, Hai Guo & Zhen-Hao Ling

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  1. Bo Gao
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  2. Hai Guo
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  3. Xin-Ming Wang
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  4. Xiu-Ying Zhao
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  5. Zhen-Hao Ling
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  6. Zhou Zhang
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  7. Teng-Yu Liu
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Correspondence to Hai Guo or Xin-Ming Wang.

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Responsible editor: Gerhard Lammel

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Gao, B., Guo, H., Wang, XM. et al. Tracer-based source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in PM2.5 in Guangzhou, southern China, using positive matrix factorization (PMF). Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 2398–2409 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1129-0

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