Abstract Number: 687 Working Group: Aerosol Chemistry
Abstract Numerous epidemiological and toxicological studies have demonstrated that acute/chronic exposure to PM2.5 has adverse health impacts, being associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The degree of PM-related toxicity depends on the composition of the particles, which comprise inorganic elements, water-soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs), organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC) and organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Both outdoor and indoor PM2.5 pollution are quite severe in present day China, especially in economically developed cities. However, there are limited studies on characteristics of chemical composition of PM2.5. The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of indoor/outdoor PM2.5 and chemical composition in downtown areas of Shanghai, China. Both indoor and outdoor PM2.5 samplings were collected simultaneously twice a month from May 2015 to May 2016 in one residence, one office, one dorm and one kindergarten. Outdoor PM2.5 was sampled by two mini-volume portable pumps (Airmetrics, USA) with a PM2.5 cyclone operating with flow rates of 5L/min for continuous 48h, while indoor PM2.5 was sampled by two pumps (SKC, USA) with a PM2.5 cyclone operating with flow rates of 2L/min for continuous 48h. The samples were collected on teflon and quartz filters, respectively. Elements, WSIIs, OC/EC and PAHs in the samples were analysed based on standard methods. Preliminary results indicate that the I/O ratio of PM2.5 - heavy metal elements (Cr/As/Cd/Pb) was greater than 1 in the residence, which means there existed indoor source of heavy metal elements. The annual mean indoor PM2.5 – PAHs concentrations were 2-8 times that of outdoors’s in all the four type of buildings, which indicates there were indoor sources of PAHs. More results are under analysis and will be presented in the conference.