Water-soluble organic compounds in PM2.5 and size-segregated aerosols over Mount Tai in North China Plain

Daytime and nighttime PM2.5 samples were collected at the summit of Mount Tai (1534 m) located in North China Plain during a week in 2006 summer. Size-segregated aerosol particles were also collected using an eight-stage impactor during the same period. Samples were analyzed for various water-soluble organic compounds using GC/ FID and GC/ MS techniques. Among the species identified in PM2.5 samples, dicarboxylic acids (C-2-C-11) were found as the most abundant compound class, followed by ketocarboxylic acids, saccharides, polyols and polyacids, and dicarbonyls. Daytime concentrations of most compounds were found to be 2-3 times higher than in nighttime. Such a diurnal variation was first interpreted by the depressed transport of pollutants in nighttime from the lowlands to the mountaintop owing to the decreased heights of planetary boundary layer, and second by the photochemical production in daytime. The diurnal variation trends of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) such as diacids at the mountain site are the same as those on lowlands, but the diurnal patterns of primary organic aerosols (POA) on the mountaintop are in contrast to those on lowlands, where POA such as saccharides and polyols are usually higher in nighttime owing to the accumulation within inversion layer developed. The eight-stage impactor samples showed bimodal distributions of diacids and related compounds peaking at size ranges of 0.70-1.1 mu m and 5.8-9.0 mu m. In the present study, water-soluble organics in the fine mode are largely originated from biomass burning and/ or photooxidation of gaseous precursors and the subsequent adsorption on the preexisting particles, whereas those in the coarse mode are mainly derived from suspended soil particles and pollens and in part via the hygroscopic growth of fine particles and formation of cloud/ fog droplets.