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. 2014 Nov 18;48(22):13060-8.
doi: 10.1021/es502965b. Epub 2014 Nov 6.

Global chemical composition of ambient fine particulate matter for exposure assessment

Sajeev Philip  1 , Randall V Martin, Aaron van Donkelaar, Jason Wai-Ho Lo, Yuxuan Wang, Dan Chen, Lin Zhang, Prasad S Kasibhatla, Siwen Wang, Qiang Zhang, Zifeng Lu, David G Streets, Shabtai Bittman, Douglas J Macdonald
Affiliations

Global chemical composition of ambient fine particulate matter for exposure assessment

Sajeev Philip et al. Environ Sci Technol. .

Abstract

Epidemiologic and health impact studies are inhibited by the paucity of global, long-term measurements of the chemical composition of fine particulate matter. We inferred PM2.5 chemical composition at 0.1° × 0.1° spatial resolution for 2004-2008 by combining aerosol optical depth retrieved from the MODIS and MISR satellite instruments, with coincident profile and composition information from the GEOS-Chem global chemical transport model. Evaluation of the satellite-model PM2.5 composition data set with North American in situ measurements indicated significant spatial agreement for secondary inorganic aerosol, particulate organic mass, black carbon, mineral dust, and sea salt. We found that global population-weighted PM2.5 concentrations were dominated by particulate organic mass (11.9 ± 7.3 μg/m(3)), secondary inorganic aerosol (11.1 ± 5.0 μg/m(3)), and mineral dust (11.1 ± 7.9 μg/m(3)). Secondary inorganic PM2.5 concentrations exceeded 30 μg/m(3) over East China. Sensitivity simulations suggested that population-weighted ambient PM2.5 from biofuel burning (11 μg/m(3)) could be almost as large as from fossil fuel combustion sources (17 μg/m(3)). These estimates offer information about global population exposure to the chemical components and sources of PM2.5.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean ratio of PM2.5 composition to AOD for 2004–2008. PM2.5 composition is represented as dry mass. Abbreviations are Secondary Inorganic Aerosol (SIA; the sum of SO42–, NO3– ,and NH4+), Organic Mass (OM), and Black Carbon (BC). Gray denotes water. The top-left panel contains the boundaries of the three nested GEOS-Chem regions.
Figure 2
Figure 2
PM2.5 composition from satellite-model and in situ observations across North America. PM2.5 composition is represented as dry mass. Abbreviations are Secondary Inorganic Aerosol (SIA; the sum of SO42–, NO3–, and NH4+), Organic Mass (OM), and Black Carbon (BC). Gray denotes water or missing in situ measurement data. Scatter plots are in SI Figure S2.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Satellite-model global long-term mean (2004–2008) PM2.5 composition. PM2.5 composition is represented as dry mass. Abbreviations are Secondary Inorganic Aerosol (SIA; the sum of SO42–, NO3– ,and NH4+), Organic Mass (OM), and Black Carbon (BC). Gray denotes water. Values from in situ observations are overlaid as colored circles. SI Table S1 contains the detailed comparison statistics.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Estimate of three major emission sources contributing to PM2.5. Gray denotes water. The thick border lines in the top panel represent the GBD (Global Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2010 study) regions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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