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Uptake of Water‐soluble Gas‐phase Oxidation Products Drives Organic Particulate Pollution in Beijing
Author(s) -
Gkatzelis Georgios I.,
Papanastasiou Dimitrios K.,
Karydis Vlassis A.,
Hohaus Thorsten,
Liu Ying,
Schmitt Sebastian H.,
Schlag Patrick,
Fuchs Hendrik,
Novelli Anna,
Chen Qi,
Cheng Xi,
Broch Sebastian,
Dong Huabin,
Holland Frank,
Li Xin,
Liu Yuhan,
Ma Xuefei,
Reimer David,
Rohrer Franz,
Shao Min,
Tan Zhaofeng,
Taraborrelli Domenico,
Tillmann Ralf,
Wang Haichao,
Wang Yu,
Wu Yusheng,
Wu Zhijun,
Zeng Limin,
Zheng Jun,
Hu Min,
Lu Keding,
Hofzumahaus Andreas,
Zhang Yuanhang,
Wahner Andreas,
KiendlerScharr Astrid
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2020gl091351
Subject(s) - particulates , environmental chemistry , pollution , environmental science , aerosol , acetaldehyde , air pollution , formaldehyde , pollutant , air quality index , beijing , ozone , formic acid , chemistry , meteorology , china , organic chemistry , ecology , physics , political science , ethanol , law , biology
Despite the recent decrease in pollution events in Chinese urban areas, the World Health Organization air quality guideline values are still exceeded. Observations from monitoring networks show a stronger decrease of organic aerosol directly emitted to the atmosphere relative to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) generated from oxidation processes. Here, the uptake of water‐soluble gas‐phase oxidation products is reported as a major SOA contribution to particulate pollution in Beijing, triggered by the increase of aerosol liquid water. In pollution episodes, this pathway is enough to explain the increase in SOA mass, with formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, glycolaldehyde, formic acid, and acetic acid alone explaining 15%–25% of the SOA increase. Future mitigation strategies to reduce non‐methane volatile organic compound emissions should be considered to reduce organic particulate pollution in China.