Source apportionment of ambient PM₁₀ in urban areas of Wuxi, China

Abstract

A total of 168 PM₁₀ samples were collected during the year of 2005 at eight sites in the city of Wuxi in China. Fifteen chemical elements, three water-soluble ions, total carbon and organic carbon were analyzed. Six source categories were identified and their contributions to ambient PM₁₀ in Wuxi were estimated using a nested chemical mass balance method that reduces the effects of colinearity on the chemical mass balance model. In addition, the concentrations of secondary aerosols, such as secondary organic carbon, sulfate and nitrate, were quantified. The spatially averaged PM₁₀ was high in the spring and winter (123 μg·m^-3 and low in the summer–fall (90 μg·m^-3). According to the result of source apportionment, resuspended dust was the largest contributor to ambient PM₁₀, accounting for more than 50% of the PM₁₀ mass. Coal combustion (14.6%) and vehicle exhaust (9.4%) were also significant source categories of ambient PM₁₀. Construction and cement dust, sulfates, secondary organic carbon, and nitrates made contributions ranging between 4.1% and 4.9%. Other source categories such as steel manufacturing dust and soil dust made low contributions to ambient PM₁₀.

Keywords

source apportionment / inhalable particulate matter / nested chemical mass balance method

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20877042) and National Science and Technology Supporting Program during the Eleventh Five-year Plan Period ( No. 2007BAC16B01). The authors are grateful to the staff from Environmental Monitoring Center of Wuxi City for helping in carrying out ambient and source sampling during the study.

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