Water soluble components of PM_(10) in Chongqing, China

1Introduction Particleswithanaerodynamicdiameterof< 10μmarerecognizedasinhalabaleparticlesandhave beenfoundtobewidelyassociatedwithhealthprob lems(Chapmanetal.,1997).Theywouldalsoinflu enceclimateandvisibilitythroughanumberofimpor tantatmosphericprocesses(Horvath,1993). Rapiddevelopmentofurbanconstructionandrap idgrowthofpopulationhaveexacerbatedChongqing’s pollution.Althoughsulfurdioxidehasbeenreducedby morethan60%incontrasttothevaluein1991,the concentrationsofparticulatematterarestil…

Water soluble components of PM10 in Chongqing, China

The concentrations of water soluble ions (Na , NH 4, K , Mg 2 , Ca 2 , NO -3, Cl -, and SO 2- 4) in PM 10 samples collected on cellulose filters by a medium-volume cascade impactor were determined, which were obtained from three kinds of areas in Chongqing: industrial area (Jiulongpo district), commercial and residential area (Jiangbei district) and background area (Jinyun Mountain in the Beibei district). The results showed that except for the background site, the annual average values of PM 10 are 23%-61% higher than the national air quality standard (GradeⅡ) ( 0.1 mg/m 3), even that the value of the control site is still 20% higher than American standard ( 0.05 mg/m 3). This implied that serious pollution of fine particles occurred in Chongqing. Nine kinds of soluble ions in water of PM 10 were analyzed by ion chromatography (IC) and the annual average concentrations follow the order of SO 2- 4]>NO -3]>Cl -]>F -], and Ca 2 ]>NH 4]>K ]>Na ]>Mg 2 ]. Their values were different in these areas: the industrial area>the commercial and living area>the control area. As for NH 4, K , Ca 2 , NO -3 and SO 2- 4, their seasonal average concentrations show a similar variation trend: the values in spring and fall were higher than those in summer and winter. The seasonal average concentrations of Cl -], F -], Na ] and Mg 2 ] are much lower than those of other ions. However, the concentrations of Na ] changed more greatly in different seasons than those of the other three ions. Correlation coefficients showed that the three areas have been polluted by coal smoke and dust to different extents, while some local resources of pollution should be taken into consideration as well.