title: Identification of the typical metal particles among haze, fog, and clear episodes in the Beijing atmosphere.
abstract: For a better understanding of metal particle morphology and behaviors in China, atmospheric aerosols were sampled in the summer of 2012 in Beijing. The single-particle analysis shows various metal-bearing speciations, dominated by oxides, sulfates and nitrates. A large fraction of particles is soluble. Sources of Fe-bearing particles are mainly steel industries and oil fuel combustion, whereas Zn- and Pb-bearing particles are primarily contributed by waste incineration, besides industrial combustion. Other trace metal particles play a minor rule, and may come from diverse origins. Mineral dust and anthropogenic source like vehicles and construction activities are of less importance to metal-rich particles. Statistics of 1173 analyzed particles show that Fe-rich particles (48.5%) dominate the metal particles, followed by Zn-rich particles (34.9%) and Pb-rich particles (15.6%). Compared with the abundances among clear, haze and fog conditions, a severe metal pollution is identified in haze and fog episodes. Particle composition and elemental correlation suggest that the haze episodes are affected by the biomass burning in the southern regions, and the fog episodes by the local emission with manifold particle speciation. Our results show the heterogeneous reaction accelerated in the fog and haze episodes indicated by more zinc nitrate or zinc sulfate instead of zinc oxide or carbonate. Such information is useful in improving our knowledge of fine airborne metal particles on their morphology, speciation, and solubility, all of which will help the government introduce certain control to alleviate metal pollution.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Yunjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analysis Techniques, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Suanqin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Lingdong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: fuhb@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hongbo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: jmchen@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jianmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis*; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D012621:Seasons; D014887:Weather
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D008670:Metals; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Air quality; Beijing; Fog; Haze; Metal particles; Single particle