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Observation and analysis of VOCs in nine prefecture-level cities of Sichuan Province, China

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Abstract

The observation and analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were conducted during January 2018 in nine prefecture-level cities of Sichuan, China, covering the period of heavily polluted weather. Air samples collected in nine prefecture-level cities were analyzed using a preconcentration method coupled with GC-MS/FID. The characteristics and ozone generation potential (OFP) of VOCs were analyzed. The relationship between air quality index (AQI) and VOCs and gross domestic product (GDP) and VOCs were also discussed, respectively. The results show that the characteristics of VOCs in cities are highly related to their industrial structure and GDP. Generally, areas with high AQI values are accompanied by high VOC concentrations. Alkanes and halocarbons were the most abundant VOCs in the atmospheric environment in the nine prefecture-level cities, accounting for 24.5~61.6% and 15.6~23.6% of total VOC concentration, respectively. The MIR method was used to analyze the OFP, and olefins contributed the most to ozone formation. Among the nine cities located in Sichuan, Dazhou was found to be the city with the highest OFP value (1191.49 μg/m3).

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Analytical and Testing Center of Southwest Jiaotong University and Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Vehicle Emissions Control for the experimental conditions.

Funding

The work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21777131 and No. 21677117), Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2018YFC0214003, 2016YFC0200405), and the open fund of Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Vehicle Emissions Control.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 611756, China

    Wenjun Wang, Tingting Xiong, Dongmei Wang, Xincheng Jiang, Yue Liu, Huan Cheng, Xiaojing Luo, Meikun Fan & Zhengjun Gong

  2. Key Laboratory of Integrated Environmental Air Quality Monitoring in Environmental Protection Region of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, 610091, China

    Wenjun Wang, Tingting Xiong, Wei Zhang, Bin Luo, Dongmei Wang, Xincheng Jiang, Zhihan Rao, Yan Jiang, Yue Liu, Huan Cheng, Xiaojing Luo, Meikun Fan & Zhengjun Gong

  3. Sichuan Ecological Environment Monitoring Station, Chengdu, 610091, China

    Wei Zhang, Zhihan Rao & Yan Jiang

  4. Sichuan Academy of Environmental Policy Research and Planning, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Bin Luo

  5. State-Province Joint Engineering Laboratory of Spatial Information Technology of High-Speed Rail Safety, Chengdu, 611756, China

    Meikun Fan & Zhengjun Gong

Authors
  1. Wenjun Wang
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  2. Tingting Xiong
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  3. Wei Zhang
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  4. Bin Luo
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  5. Dongmei Wang
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  8. Yan Jiang
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  9. Yue Liu
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  10. Huan Cheng
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  11. Xiaojing Luo
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  12. Meikun Fan
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  13. Zhengjun Gong
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Correspondence to Bin Luo or Zhengjun Gong.

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Wang, W., Xiong, T., Zhang, W. et al. Observation and analysis of VOCs in nine prefecture-level cities of Sichuan Province, China. Environ Monit Assess 192, 511 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08360-9

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