Impact of air transport and secondary formation on haze pollution in the Yangtze River Delta: In situ online observations in Shanghai and Nanjing

Abstract. Formaldehyde (HCHO) in the ambient air not only causes cancer but is also an ideal indicator of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are major precursors of ozone (O3) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) near the surface. It is meaningful to differentiate between the direct emission and the secondary formation of HCHO for HCHO pollution control and sensitivity studies of O3 production. However, understanding of the sources of HCHO is still poor in China, due to the scarcity of field measurements (both spatially and temporally). In this study, tropospheric HCHO vertical column densities (VCDs) in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), East China, where HCHO pollution is serious, were retrieved from the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP) satellite from 2014 to 2017; these retrievals showed good agreement with the tropospheric HCHO columns measured using ground-based high-resolution Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTS) with a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.78. Based on these results, the cancer risk was estimated both nationwide and in the YRD region. It was calculated that at least 7840 people in the YRD region would develop cancer in their lives due to outdoor HCHO exposure, which comprised 23.4 % of total national cancer risk. Furthermore, the contributions of primary and secondary sources were apportioned, in addition to primary and secondary tracers from surface observations. Overall, the HCHO from secondary formation contributed most to ambient HCHO and can be regarded as the indicator of VOC reactivity in Hangzhou and in urban areas of Nanjing and Shanghai from 2015 to 2017, due to the strong correlation between total HCHO and secondary HCHO. At industrial sites in Nanjing, primary emissions more strongly influenced ambient HCHO concentrations in 2015 and showed an obvious decreasing trend. Seasonally, HCHO from secondary formation reached a maximum in summer and a minimum in winter. In the spring, summer, and autumn, secondary formation had a significant effect on the variation of ambient HCHO in urban regions of Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai, whereas in the winter the contribution from secondary formation became less significant. A more thorough understanding of the variation of the primary and secondary contributions of ambient HCHO is needed to develop a better knowledge regarding the role of HCHO in atmospheric chemistry and to formulate effective control measures to decrease HCHO pollution and the associated cancer risk.

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Source apportionment of fine particles and its chemical components over the Yangtze River Delta, China during a heavy haze pollution episode

Atmospheric Environment ◽

10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.06.051 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 123 ◽

pp. 415-429 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

L. Li ◽

J.Y. An ◽

M. Zhou ◽

R.S. Yan ◽

C. Huang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Source Apportionment ◽

Yangtze River ◽

Fine Particles ◽

Yangtze River Delta ◽

River Delta ◽

Chemical Components ◽

The Yangtze River ◽

Pollution Episode ◽

Haze Pollution ◽

The Yangtze River Delta

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Mixing state of ambient aerosols during different fog-haze pollution episodes in the Yangtze River Delta, China

Atmospheric Environment ◽

10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.01.032 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 178 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Rui Hu ◽

Honglei Wang ◽

Yan Yin ◽

Kui Chen ◽

Bin Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Yangtze River ◽

Yangtze River Delta ◽

River Delta ◽

The Yangtze River ◽

Mixing State ◽

Ambient Aerosols ◽

Haze Pollution ◽

The Yangtze River Delta ◽

Pollution Episodes

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Study on the Influencing Factors of Haze Pollution from thePerspective of Space--Taking the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration as an Example

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/201911804013 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 118 ◽

pp. 04013

Author(s):

Ting Gan ◽

Wei Liang

Keyword(s):

Influencing Factors ◽

Yangtze River ◽

Yangtze River Delta ◽

River Delta ◽

The Yangtze River ◽

Spatial Lag Model ◽

Yangtze River Delta Region ◽

Haze Pollution ◽

Lag Model ◽

The Yangtze River Delta

In recent years, haze frequently occurs in the Yangtze river delta region. In order to explore the influencing factors of haze pollution, the paper uses panel data from 2006 to 2016 and spatial lag model to explore the influencing factors of PM2.5. The results show that there is an inverted u-shaped relationship between haze pollution and economic development. The increase of the tertiary industry and the progress of science and technology can improve haze pollution, while the increase of foreign direct investment and the continuous expansion of population will exert pressure on the environment. Finally, according to the research results of this paper, the corresponding policies are proposed..

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Estimating the Effects of Economic Agglomeration on Haze Pollution in Yangtze River Delta China Using an Econometric Analysis

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11071893 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 1893 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Renfeng Ma ◽

Congcong Wang ◽

Yixia Jin ◽

Xiaojing Zhou

Keyword(s):

Yangtze River ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Yangtze River Delta ◽

River Delta ◽

Impact Factors ◽

Kuznets Curve ◽

The Yangtze River ◽

Haze Pollution ◽

Economic Agglomeration ◽

The Yangtze River Delta

Haze pollution, a serious livelihood and environmental issue, has hindered China’s economic development. This paper, based on the improved output density model, empirically analyzes spatial patterns and impact factors of haze pollution within the Yangtze River Delta from 2015 to 2017 by statistical and spatial econometric models. The study shows that: (1) The characteristics of haze pollution due to seasonal changes are obvious in the Yangtze River Delta region, and the situation has gradually improved. (2) The haze pollution has significant local agglomeration characteristics and spatial heterogeneity, demonstrated as significant low-level agglomerations in Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Taizhou, and high agglomerations in Chuzhou, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, and Taizhou. The polluted area clusters around the provincial boundary, and its level gradually decreases from northwest to southeast. There is a significant spatial positive correlation and spatial spillover effect of intercity haze pollution, which will have a negative impact on the region and surrounding areas. (3) The population growth, research and development (R&D) investment, industrial structure, industrial smoke and dust emissions, and urban construction in the Yangtze River Delta have positive impacts on haze pollution, while factors, such as investment intensity of foreign direct investment (FDI), energy consumption and precipitation, have a negative impact on smog pollution. However, there is no Kuznets curve relationship between smog pollution and economic growth. By optimizing spatial distribution, incorporating production factors, and sharing pollution control infrastructure, this paper shows that economic agglomeration has an inhibitory effect on haze pollution.

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Primary and secondary sources of ambient formaldehyde in the Yangtze River Delta based on OMPS observation

10.5194/acp-2018-1192 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Wenjing Su ◽

Cheng Liu ◽

Qihou Hu ◽

Shaohua Zhao ◽

Youwen Sun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cancer Risk ◽

Yangtze River ◽

Yangtze River Delta ◽

River Delta ◽

Effective Control ◽

The Yangtze River ◽

Secondary Sources ◽

Secondary Formation ◽

The Yrd ◽

The Yangtze River Delta

Abstract. Formaldehyde (HCHO) in the ambient air not only causes cancer but also is an ideal indicator for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are major precursors of ozone (O3) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) near the surface. It is meaningful to differentiate between direct emission and secondary formation for HCHO pollution control and sensitivity study of O3 production. However, the understanding of the sources of HCHO is still poor in China, due to limited measurements of HCHO in the field, both spatially and temporally. In this study, tropospheric HCHO vertical column densities (VCDs) in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), East China where HCHO pollution is serious were retrieved from Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP) satellite from 2014 to 2017, and kept good agreement with the tropospheric HCHO columns measured by ground-based high resolution Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTS) with the correlation coefficient (R) of 0.78. Based on this, the cancer risk was estimated nationwide and in the YRD region. At least, 7840 people in the YRD region would develop cancer in their lives due to outdoor HCHO exposure, which occupied 23.4 % of total national cancer risk. Besides, the contributions of primary and secondary sources were apportioned, combining with primary and secondary tracers from surface observation. Overall, HCHO from secondary formation contributed most to ambient HCHO and can be regarded as the indication of the VOCs reactivity in Hangzhou and urban areas of Nanjing and Shanghai from 2015 to 2017, due to strong correlation between total HCHO and secondary HCHO. At industrial sites in Nanjing, primary emission influenced most to ambient HCHO in 2015 and showed an obvious decreasing trend. Seasonally, HCHO from secondary formation reached the maximum in summer and minimum in winter. In the spring, summer, and autumn, secondary formation played a curial effect on variation of ambient HCHO in urban regions of Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai; while in the winter the contribution from secondary formation became less significant. The understanding of the variation of the primary and secondary contributions to ambient HCHO is in favor for a better understanding the role of HCHO in atmospheric chemistry and formulating effective control measures to decrease HCHO pollution and cancer risk.

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