☆ 4.7 Article

The impact of the pollution control measures for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on the chemical composition of aerosols

ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT (2011)

Journal

ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT

Volume 45, Issue 16, Pages 2789-2794

Publisher

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.01.053

Keywords

Aerosol; Beijing; Black carbon; Olympic games; PM10; PM2.5; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); TSP; Water-soluble ions

Funding

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan [18710014, 19404002, 22710016]
Environment Research and Technology Development Fund [B-0904]
Ministry of the Environment, Japan, Steel Industry Foundation
Mizuho Foundation for the Promotion of Sciences
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [18710014, 19404002, 22710016] Funding Source: KAKEN

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Abstract

We investigated the difference in the concentrations of air pollutants between the period of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the same periods in the prior three years (2005-2007, the reference period), in particular, the chemical composition of the particulate matter. PM10. Black carbon (BC), SO2 and NO2 were reduced by 33%, 31%, 32% and 51%, respectively, whereas PM2.5 was not reduced during the Olympic period when compared to the reference period. Many pollution control measures that had been applied to prevent air pollution from contaminating the air quality in Beijing during the Olympic Games significantly reduced the larger particles (PM10), SO2 and NO2 but it did not as effectively reduce the much smaller particles (PM2.5). The sum of the measured water-soluble ions in total suspended particles (TSP) during the Olympic period was reduced by 35% when compared to the reference period. Each ion was reduced significantly by 43%-79% except for nitrogen-containing species. We estimated that CaSO4 reduction by 52% played a significant role in reducing larger particles during the Olympic period. Although many ions in PM2.5 showed a similar decreasing trend as those in TSP, NO3- in PM2.5 increased significantly. During the Olympic period, the atmospheric nitrogen cycle seemed to have been very complicated. Meteorological conditions such as temperature, relative humidity, or regional-scale air mass trajectory did not seem to be a major reason for the nitrate behavior. Instead, it is possible that the increase of ozone and/or oxidants around the center of Beijing may have accelerated the oxidation of nitrogen oxides to form nitrate. We found a trend in the concentration of high-molecular weight PAHs (HMW-PAHs), which had 5-7 rings decreased during the Olympic period. We considered that the reduction of HMW-PAHs that could be associated with the reduction of BC was due to the reduction of traffic flow resulting from traffic control measures implemented during that time period. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Assessing the oxidative potential of PAHs in ambient PM2.5 using the DTT consumption assay

Amber L. Kramer, Shelby Dorn, Allison Perez, Courtney Roper, Ivan A. Titaley, Kaylee Cayton, Ronald P. Cook, Paul H-Y Cheong, Staci L. Massey Simonich

Summary: This study measured the oxidative potential of 135 individual PAHs in PM2.5 and found a mismatch between DTT50 results and computed reduction potential values. The GINI equality index correlated with Delta G(rxn) values, indicating a link between electron dispersion and thermodynamic reactions in PAHs. The additive prediction model did not accurately predict the DTT consumption in the assay, suggesting a more complex toxicity model for PAHs in ambient PM2.5.

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