AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Airborne Metal Concentrations during and After Pollution Restrictions in Beijing
NITIKA DEWAN, Brian Majestic, YuanXun Zhang, University of Denver
Abstract Number: 393 Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract The 16$^(th) Universiade, an international multi-sport event, was hosted in Shenzhen, China from August 12$^(th) - 24$^(th), 2011. During this time, officials instituted the Pearl River Delta action plan in order to enhance the air quality of Shenzhen, Beijing. The current study examined the total and water-soluble trace elements in atmospheric particulate matter (PM) during and post-Universiade. PM$_(2.5) samples were collected at two sites in China: “LG”- top of 31st floor residential building in the Longgang District of Shenzhen City and “BS”- top of Building E of Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School in the Nanshan District of Shenzhen. During the Universiade, the monitored PM$_(2.5) mass concentrations were 12.99 ± 3.73 ug/m$^3 at the LG site and 25.24 ± 5.20 ug/m$^3 at the BS site. After the Universiade, when the control measures were eased, significant increases in the PM$_(2.5) mass concentrations were observed (LG= 48.01 ± 8.73 ug/m$^3 and BS= 54.05 ± 6.53 ug/m$^3). Results from this study showed a significant increase in the concentrations of total metals post-event. For instance, samples at the LG site showed (“during” to “post” event) concentrations (in ng/m$^3) of: As (57.3 to 385), Pb (13.1 to 78.9), and Zn (125 to 309). Similarly, samples at the BS site showed (“during” to “post” event) air concentrations (in ng/m$^3) of: As (1.03 to 7.95), Pb (10.3 to 55.5), and Zn (18.1 to 75.4). Water-soluble metals were also elevated post-Universiade. LG samples showed average soluble Fe as 5% (9.35 ng/m$^3) during the event and 10% (39.1 ng/m$^3) post-event. BS samples showed average soluble Fe as 26% (28.1 ng/m$^3) during the event and 34% (83.1 ng/m$^3) post-event for the total measured Fe.