Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of PM2.5-Bound Pahs During Heavy Air Pollution Episodes in Winter in Urban Area of Beijing, China
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atmosphere Article Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of PM2.5-Bound PAHs during Heavy Air Pollution Episodes in Winter in Urban Area of Beijing, China Mei Luo 1,2,4,†, Yuanyuan Ji 2,3,†, Yanqin Ren 1, Fuhong Gao 3, Hao Zhang 1, Lihui Zhang 1, Yanqing Yu 1 and Hong Li 2,* 1 Department of Urban Construction, Beijing City University, Beijing 100083, China; [email protected] (M.L.); [email protected] (Y.R.); [email protected] (H.Z.); [email protected] (L.Z.); [email protected] (Y.Y.) 2 State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China; [email protected] 3 College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130061, China; [email protected] 4 Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection, National Engineering Research Center of Urban Environmental Pollution Control, Beijing 100037, China * Correspondence: [email protected] † These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: PM2.5 level has decreased significantly in Beijing in recent years due to the strict air quality control measures taken in Jingjinji Region and the surrounding areas. However, the variation characteristics of the concentrations of PM2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Beijing in recent years are still not so clear. In order to understand the pollution status of PM2.5- Citation: Luo, M.; Ji, Y.; Ren, Y.; Gao, bound PAHs in Beijing, fifteen PAHs were measured in a typical urban area of Beijing from 1 March F.; Zhang, H.; Zhang, L.; Yu, Y.; Li, H. to 20 March 2018. The average mass concentration of the 15 PAHs was 21 ng/m3 and higher in Characteristics and Health Risk the nighttime than that in the daytime. The proportion of 4-ring PAHs in 15 PAHs was highest Assessment of PM2.5-Bound PAHs (43%), while 6-ring PAHs was lowest (10%). The levels of PAHs were higher during heavy pollution during Heavy Air Pollution Episodes in Winter in Urban Area of Beijing, episodes than those in non-heavy pollution episodes, and the proportions of 5- and 6-ring PAHs were China. Atmosphere 2021, 12, 323. increased during a heavy pollution episode. PAHs posed obvious carcinogenic risks to the exposed https://doi.org/10.3390/ populations, and the risk was higher during heavy pollution episodes than the average value of atmos12030323 the whole monitoring period. The main sources of PAHs were traffic emissions and coal/biomass burning. Air masses from the south-southeast had a great influence on the PM2.5 levels during a Academic Editor: Evangelos Tolis heavy pollution episode. It is recommended that not only the PM2.5 levels but also the PAHs levels bounded in PM2.5 should be controlled to protect human health in Beijing. Received: 17 December 2020 Accepted: 22 February 2021 Keywords: PM2.5-bound PAHs; pollution characteristics; health risk assessment; sources; Beijing Published: 1 March 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in 1. Introduction published maps and institutional affil- iations. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of organic compounds com- posed of two or more fused benzene rings and widely found in air, soil, and water [1–3]. They also are teratogenic, mutagenic, and persistent organic pollutants which can be bio- enriched and transported over long distances and cause great harm to human health [4,5]. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), some PAHs (like Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. benzo(a)pyrene) are carcinogenic to humans. Both natural sources (like geological dust and Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. forest fire) and anthropogenic sources could release PAHs into the environment. Anthro- This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and pogenic sources include industrial-related sources, traffic-related sources, and domestic- conditions of the Creative Commons related sources [2,6]. PAHs in ambient air exist in the gas phase and particulate phase. Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// PAHs with 2–3 aromatic rings are mainly gaseous, and harmful PAHs with 4 or more creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ aromatic rings are mainly particulate (especially PM2.5)[6,7]. PM2.5, with a small particle 4.0/). size, can penetrate into bronchioles and alveoli of the human body and can migrate a long Atmosphere 2021, 12, 323. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12030323 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere Atmosphere 2021, 12, 323 2 of 19 distance in the atmosphere. Therefore, the harm of PM2.5-bound PAHs to human health cannot be ignored. In addition, due to global distillation and grasshopper effects, PAHs can gradually migrate to the polar regions of the earth, thus causing global pollution [6,8]. Therefore, sources and environmental fate of PM2.5-bound PAHs have become a research focus in the field of environmental science [9]. Studies on the pollution characteristics and health risk assessments of PAHs in urban and rural areas have been carried on since the 1980s and 1990s internationally [10–12]. The distribution of PAHs in gas and aerosol phases has been analyzed [13,14], and qualitative and quantitative methods for source analysis have also been established [15,16]. In the past twenty years, researchers have conducted studies on the concentrations, composition characteristics, sources, and human health risks of PAHs in PM2.5 in Beijing [1,17–22]. The results showed that the concentration of PM2.5-bound PAHs in Beijing was high and had obvious seasonal variation characteristics, which was usually highest in winter, followed by autumn, spring and summer. In addition, the concentration of PM2.5-bound PAHs was significantly higher during the heating period than that in the non-heating period [2,5,17]. The PM2.5-bound PAHs in Beijing were mainly 3–6 ring PAHs. Wang et al. [1] found that PAHs with more than 4 rings accounted for 79% of the PM2.5 in Beijing. Duan et al. [5] found that PAHs with more than 4 rings accounted for 96% of the PM2.5 during the heating period in Beijing. The human health risk of PAHs in PM2.5 in Beijing cannot be ignored. Wang et al. [23] found that the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) of adults and children exposed to PAHs exceeded the acceptable risk for humans, and the ILCR of adults was higher than that of children. Source apportionment results showed that PM2.5-bound PAHs in Beijing mainly came from vehicle exhaust emissions, coal combustion, and biomass burning such as plant burning, among which, the concentration of PAHs in the heating period was greatly affected by coal combustion [2,18,23]. With the development of society and economy and the acceleration of urbanization, regional heavy air pollution with PM2.5 as the primary pollutant occurred frequently in autumn and winter in the early 2010s, especially in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region and its surrounding areas. In order to improve the ambient air quality, the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan was issued in 2013 in China, which clearly required 3 Beijing to control its annual mean concentration of PM2.5 at around 60 µg/m in 2017. The Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei and Surrounding Area Air Pollution Prevention and Control Work Plan in 2017 [24] identified the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei air pollution transport channel (“2 + 26” cities). The plan focuses on improving regional ambient air quality and implements joint regional air pollution prevention and control. The Beijing Municipal Environmental Status Bulletin [25] showed that the annual mean concentration of PM2.5 in Beijing in 2018 was 51 µg/m3, 46% higher than the national standard value. The number of days with heavy pollution and severe pollution was 15, with an incidence of 4.1%, which was 43 days less than that of 2013. The target in the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan was successfully achieved. With the continuous strengthening of the prevention and control of air pollution in Beijing, the concentration of PM2.5 in Beijing has shown a downward trend [23,26]. However, heavy air pollution episode with PM2.5 as the primary pollutant still occurs in Beijing in autumn and winter. Studies have shown that atmospheric particulates, such as PM2.5, in urban areas of China often contain relatively high concentrations of PAHs [27] when heavy air pollution occurs. In order to understand the pollution status of PAHs in PM2.5 during heavy air pollution episodes when the concentration of PM2.5 is generally decreasing in Beijing, a 20-day continuous monitoring of PM2.5 was carried out in an urban area of Beijing in March 2018. The concentration, composition, and variation characteristics of PM2.5-bound PAHs during the heavy air pollution episodes were analyzed. The human health risk of toxic PAHs was assessed, and the sources of PAHs were identified. Based on the backward trajectory analysis, the impact of long-distance air mass transport on PM2.5 was analyzed. The results can provide a scientific basis for accurately understanding the pollution characteristics of PM2.5-bound PAHs during heavy air pollution episodes in Atmosphere 2021, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 19 Atmosphere 2021, 12, 323 3 of 19 transport on PM2.5 was analyzed. The results can provide a scientific basis for accurately understanding the pollution characteristics of PM2.5-bound PAHs during heavy air pol- lution episodes in Beijing, correctly evaluating the impact of PM2.5 on human health and Beijing, correctly evaluating the impact of PM2.5 on human health and developing effective 2.5 PMdeveloping2.5 prevention effective and PM control prevention measures. and control measures. 2.2. Materials Materials and and Methods Methods 2.1.2.1.