RESUMEN
Ozone (O3) pollution has emerged as a major air quality issue in China. Here we emphasize the great challenges in controlling O3 pollution by analyzing the recent experience of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in southern China in reducing the autumn O3 peaks. Despite significant reductions in the concentration of O3 precursors, i.e., nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), regional O3 pollution in the PRD was largely worse in autumn 2019 than in autumn 2018. We found that the supra-regional and regional background concentrations of O3 increased significantly in the PRD in autumn 2019 due to increased concentrations of O3 in the vast surrounding areas. We also observed slight increases in the concentrations of PRD-regionally and Guangzhou-locally produced O3. A chemical box-model analysis confirmed a slight increase in the in-situ production of O3 and revealed that increased biogenic VOCs (BVOCs) and decreased NOx levels negated the effect of significant decrease in the anthropogenic VOCs. Taken together, these aspects exacerbated O3 pollution in the PRD region in autumn 2019 relative to autumn 2018. The findings from this study highlight the strong interactions of O3 pollution over multiple regions and the need for collaborative inter-regional efforts to control O3 pollution. The experience of PRD also underlines the key role of BVOCs and the importance of science-based strategies to decrease VOCs and NOx.
Asunto(s)
Contaminantes Atmosféricos , Contaminación del Aire , Ozono , Compuestos Orgánicos Volátiles , Ozono/análisis , Compuestos Orgánicos Volátiles/análisis , Contaminantes Atmosféricos/análisis , Monitoreo del Ambiente , Contaminación del Aire/análisis , Políticas , ChinaRESUMEN
To investigate photochemical ozone (O3) formation and provide localized control strategies, an intensive sampling of O3 and its precursors (i.e. volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2)) were conducted at an urban site in Leshan, Sichuan province during 4-13 August 2019. The mixing ratios of O3, total VOCs (TVOCs) and NOx were 40.0 ± 5.3, 22.5 ± 2.6 and 14.6 ± 3.8 ppbv, respectively (±95% confidence intervals). O3 and its precursors existed a well negative correlation, indicating intensive local O3 formation. To further explore the O3-precursors relationship and observation-oriented O3 control strategies, a photochemical box model coupled with master chemical mechanism (PBM-MCM) was adapted. The relative incremental reactivity (RIR) calculated by model results showed that Leshan was in the VOCs-limited and O3 production was most sensitive to alkenes. Moreover, O3 isopleth diagram was drawn using the PBM-MCM simulation results and seven reduction scenarios were evaluated in Leshan. The reduction ratio of VOCs/NOx on 3:1 was proposed to be the best solution, which can be achieved effective reduction on local O3 formation. At last, since VOCs were the key precursors of O3 in Leshan, VOC sources and their potential contributions to O3 formation were investigated by using the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model. Seven sources were identified, and traffic related emissions (including vehicle exhaust and gasoline evaporation, 29.9%) and fixed combustion (27.7%) had the large contribution to ambient VOCs. Among anthropogenic sources, fixed combustion and solvent usage in painting were the large contributors to O3 formation, accounting for 30.9% and 18.3%, respectively, which should have high priorities on source reduction. This study provides scientific advices for future O3 pollution control strategies in Leshan, which can be extended to other cities.