Endotoxins from Gram-negative bacteria in urban air pose health risks, but their vertical and seasonal patterns remain poorly understood. To address this issue, Professor Fu Pingqing’s team at Tianjin University sampled inhalable particles (PM10) from the heights of 2 m and 220 m using a 255 m meteorological tower in the coastal megacity Tianjin, North China. By applying UPLC-MS analysis of 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OH-FAs), they quantified endotoxin levels, revealing higher concentrations near the ground and seasonal peaks in winter. Notably, bioactive endotoxin levels in winter exceeded the exposure threshold, indicating potential public health risks.
Sources identified included soil/dust emissions, microorganisms, biomass burning, and atmospheric transformation processes. The findings, published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, support urban air quality management and health risk assessments. The first author, Zhang Wenxin (Tianjin University), collaborated with international and domestic researchers, including teams from Japan and Wuhan, China. Funded by China’s National Natural Science Foundation (No. 42130513), the study highlights the need for monitoring airborne biological pollutants.
Wenxin Zhang, Wei Hu*, Mutong Niu, Quanfei Zhu, Na An, Qiang Zhang, Rui Jin, Xiaoli Fu, Jian Hao, Jianbo Yang, Jingle Liu, Jing Shi, Suqin Han, Junjun Deng, Libin Wu, Yuqi Feng, Kimitaka Kawamura, and Pingqing Fu*. 2025. Vertical and seasonal variations in airborne endotoxins in a coastal megacity of North China: insights from 3-hydroxy fatty acids, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 25, 14513-14533. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14513-2025.
