Peroxyacetyl nitrate measurements by thermal dissociation-chemical ionization mass spectrometry in an urban environment： performance and characterizations

Peroxyacetyl nitrate （PAN） is an important indicator of photochemical smog and has adverse effects on human health and vegetation growth. A rapid and h!ghly selective technique of thermal dissociation chemical ionization mass spectrometry （TD-CIMS） was recently developed to measure the abundance of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers of environmental science & engineering 2017-08, Vol.11 (4), p.145-152, Article 3
Main Authors: Wang, Xinfeng, Wang, Tao, Xue, Likun, Nie, Wei, Xu, Zheng, Poon, Steven C. N., Wang, Wenxing
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Beta decay
Earth and Environmental Science
Electron capture
Environment
Formation efficiency
Gas chromatography
Interference
Ionization
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectroscopy
Mixing ratio
Nitric oxide
Nitrogen oxides
Performance evaluation
Peroxyacetyl nitrate
Photochemical pollution
Photochemical smog
Photochemicals
Pollution
Research Article
Scientific imaging
Smog
TD-CIMS
Thermal dissociation
Urban environments
Vegetation growth
光化学污染
化学电离质谱
城市环境
实时测量
性能
热分解
硝酸酯
质谱法
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Summary:Peroxyacetyl nitrate （PAN） is an important indicator of photochemical smog and has adverse effects on human health and vegetation growth. A rapid and h!ghly selective technique of thermal dissociation chemical ionization mass spectrometry （TD-CIMS） was recently developed to measure the abundance of PAN in real time; however, it may be subject to artifact in the presence of nitric oxide （NO）. In this study, we tested the interference of the PAN signal induced by NO, evaluated the performance of TD- CIMS in an urban environment, and investigated the concentration and formation of PAN in urban Hong Kong. NO caused a significant underestimation of the PAN signal in TD-CIMS, with the underestimation increasing sharply with NO concentration and decreasing slightly with PAN abundance. A formula was derived to link the loss of PAN signal with the concentrations of NO and PAN, which can be used for data correction in PAN measurements. The corrected PAN data from TD- CIMS were consistent with those from the commonly used gas chromatography with electron capture detection, which confirms the utility of TD-CIMS in an urban environment in which NO is abundant. In autumn of 2010, the hourly average PAN mixing ratio varied from 0.06 ppbv to 5.17 ppbv, indicating the occurrence of photochemical pollution in urban Hong Kong. The tbrmation efficiency of PAN during pollution episodes was as high as 3.9 to 5.9 ppbv per 100 ppbv ozone. The efficiency showed a near-linear increase with NO, concentration, suggesting a control policy of NO,. reduction for PAN pollution.
ISSN:2095-2201
2095-221X
DOI:10.1007/s11783-017-0925-7