Characterization of organic aerosol in fine particles in a mega-city of South China: Molecular composition, seasonal variation, and size distribution

A one-year-long observation on major organic compounds in PM2.5 was performed in a coastal mega-city in South China, Shenzhen, in order to gain information of their ambient concentration levels and the implications for sources. The compounds identified included alkanes, PAHs, hopanes, fatty acids and dicarboxylic acids, whose annual average concentrations during the year were 56.0, 14.8, 2.51, 253, and 25.2 ng m− 3, respectively. The seasonal molecular distributions of these organic compounds were discussed to explore their contributing sources in Shenzhen. Conclusively, alkanes and PAHs had the dominant source of fossil fuel combustion, although alkanes also had significant contribution from plant wax (~ 16%). The hopane series distributions further indicated that vehicle emissions were the dominant fossil fuel combustion source for PM2.5 in Shenzhen. Cooking emissions were inferred to be the most possible main source for fatty acids, while both primary and secondary origins were implied for azelaic acid, the dominant one in the dicarboxylic acids identified. Most of the organic compounds analyzed showed a size distribution pattern peaking at 0.32–0.56 or 0.56–1 μm in the accumulation mode, except that the cooking-related organic acids showed implication of a coarse mode-dominated pattern.

► We report a one-year-long observation on organic compounds in PM2.5 in China.
► The interesting seasonal variations of these organic compounds were discussed.
► The size distributions of individual compounds were systematically measured.