title: Variation of airborne quartz in air of Beijing during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting.
abstract: Quartz particles are a toxic component of airborne particulate matter (PM). Quartz concentrations were analyzed by X-ray diffraction in eighty-seven airborne PM samples collected from three locations in Beijing before, during, and after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting in 2014. The results showed that the mean concentrations of quartz in PM samples from the two urban sites were considerably higher than those from the rural site. The quartz concentrations in samples collected after the APEC meeting, when the pollution restriction lever was lifted, were higher than those in the samples collected before or during the APEC meeting. The quartz concentrations ranged from 0.97 to 13.2 μg/m(3), which were among the highest values amid those reported from other countries. The highest quartz concentration exceeded the Californian Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment reference exposure level and was close to the occupational threshold limit values for occupational settings. Moreover, a correlation analysis showed that quartz concentrations were positively correlated with concentrations of pollution parameters PM10, PM2.5, SO2 and NOx, but were negatively correlated with O3 concentration. The results suggest that the airborne quartz particles may potentially pose health risks to the general population of Beijing.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China. Electronic address: gangli@rcees.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Yingming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Beijing Urban Ecosystem Research Station, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China.
authors.forename: Hongxing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Honghua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Guanjun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Wenjuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Huizhong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Beijing Urban Ecosystem Research Station, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoke
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Institute of Environment and Health, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China. Electronic address: qhzhang@rcees.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Qinghua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000388:Air / Q000032:analysis*; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000068476:Beijing; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006262:Health; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D011791:Quartz / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; D011791:Quartz
keywords: Air pollution; Carcinogen; Haze; PM(10); Quartz