Specific sources of health risks caused by size-resolved PM-bound metals in a typical coal-burning city of northern China during the winter haze event

Yu-Chi Lin; Yan-Lin Zhang; Wenhuai Song; Xiaoying Yang; Mei-Yi Fan

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138651

Specific sources of health risks caused by size-resolved PM-bound metals in a typical coal-burning city of northern China during the winter haze event

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Sep 10:734:138651. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138651. Epub 2020 Apr 27.

Authors

Yu-Chi Lin¹, Yan-Lin Zhang², Wenhuai Song³, Xiaoying Yang³, Mei-Yi Fan³

Affiliations

¹ Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment, School of Applied Meteorology, International Joint Laboratory on Climate and Environment Change, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China; Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China.
² Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment, School of Applied Meteorology, International Joint Laboratory on Climate and Environment Change, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China; Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China. Electronic address: dryanlinzhang@outlook.com.
³ Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment, School of Applied Meteorology, International Joint Laboratory on Climate and Environment Change, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China; Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China.

PMID: 32460085
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138651

Abstract

High particulate matter (PM) pollution frequently occurs in winter over northern China , resulting in threats to human health. To date, there are limited studies to link source apportionments and health risk assessments in the different size-resolved PM samples during high PM events. In this study, size-segregated PM samples were collected in Linfen, a typical coal-burning city, in northern China during a wintertime haze pollution. In addition to water-soluble ions and carbon contents, metallic elements in the different size-segregated PM samples were also determined for health risk assessments by inhalation of PM. During the sampling period, the average concentration of PM₁₀ was 274 ± 57 μg m^-3 with a major fraction (73%) of organic material and secondary-related aerosols, and an insignificant portion of trace elements (TEs, ~ 3%). The size distribution showed that As and Se, markers of coal combustion, exhibited a mono-modal distribution with a major peak at 0.4-0.7 μm and the others mostly possessed mono-/bi-modal patterns with a major peak at 3.3-5.8 μm. The cancer risk (CR) resulted from PM₁₀ metals by inhalation was estimated to be 2.91 × 10^-5 for children and 7.75 × 10^-5 for adults while non-cancer risk (NCR) was 2.10 for children and 0.70 for adults. Chromium (Cr) was the dominant species (~89%) of cancer risk in PM₁₀. Road dust was a major fraction (~65%) to total metals in coarse PM (dp > 3.3 μm) whereas coal combustion was a dominant source (~55%) in submicron (dp < 1.1 μm) PM metals. However, traffic emissions (40%) and coal combustion (36%) were the dominant sources of CR since both emissions contributed major fractions (74%) to Cr, especially in submicron PM which exhibited high deposition efficiency of TEs into respiratory tracts, resulting in high CR in Linfen City.

Keywords: Coal-combustion; Deposition efficiency; Health risk assessments; PM-bound metals; PMF model.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants
China
Cities
Coal
Environmental Monitoring
Metals
Particle Size
Particulate Matter
Risk Factors
Seasons*

Substances

Air Pollutants
Coal
Metals
Particulate Matter