In order to understand the environmental effects and human health hazards, a systematic study on the saccharides in the four seasons in Beijing has been conducted. By analyzing the size-segregated samples, the origin, particle size characteristics and temporal changes of primary organic aerosols in Beijing were identified.
High concentrations of anhydrosugars in autumn and winter may be attributed to intensive human activities. The concentrations of primary sugars and sugar alcohols were higher during the growing seasons. Anhydrosugars, xylose, maltose, inositol and erythritol were mainly in the fine mode (< 2.1 μm), while other primary sugars/sugar alcohols exhibited more in the coarse mode (> 2.1 μm). Based on the tracer methods, the contribution of biomass burning dominated throughout the year and mainly existed in the fine mode. On contrary, plant debris and fungal spores contributed a lot to OC in spring and summer and mainly occurred in the coarse size fraction.
This study from researchers at the Institute of Surface-Earth System Science (ISESS) of Tianjin University and collaborators from Chinese Academy of Sciences and Max Planck institute, has been recently published on Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The first author is Shaofeng Xu, a master student from ISESS; the corresponding authors are Prof. Yunchao Lang and Prof. Pingqing Fu from ISESS.
