Journal of Environmental Sciences-china最新文献

{"title":"Impact of open-field biomass burning on regional air quality in Northern India","authors":"Pooja Manwani ,&nbsp;Chandra Venkataraman ,&nbsp;Harish C. Phuleria","doi":"10.1016/j.jes.2024.11.021","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jes.2024.11.021","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Over the past decade, biomass burning has emerged as one of the main polluting events in northern India. It is one of the major sources of brown carbon (BrC), the light-absorbing organic carbon component of PM_2.5. Most studies on the impact of biomass burning in India are based on source locations or urban areas; very little is known about its effects on a regional background location. We examine the effect of biomass burning on regional air quality and co-occurring meteorological factors. Year-long PM_2.5 levels and light absorption by carbonaceous aerosols at 880 nm and 370 nm were measured at Rohtak, a regional background location. Results showed that post-harvest biomass burning in the Punjab-Haryana region affects the regional air quality with a lead of one to two days. A comparison of dispersion-normalized concentrations showed that open-field biomass burning not only affects regional air quality in the post-monsoon season (<em>kharif</em> crops) but is also a dominant source of PM_2.5 in the post-harvest summer season (<em>rabi</em> crop). A significant (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05) difference is observed in PM_2.5, b_abs-880, and b_abs-370 between biomass burning days and non-biomass burning days during the <em>kharif</em> and <em>rabi</em> harvest seasons. Regression analyses confirm that in summer, regional PM_2.5 and light absorption by aerosols are influenced more strongly by post-harvest burning of <em>rabi</em> crops. However, adverse meteorology plays a more dominant role in the post-monsoon season than biomass burning. These findings underscore the need for better policy interventions to curb biomass burning and improve air quality during both harvest seasons.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15788,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Sciences-china","volume":"158 ","pages":"Pages 126-136"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144240421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identification and preparation of debromination products of DBDPE photodegradation by HPLC-APPI-MS coupled to semi-preparative liquid chromatography","authors":"Dongjuan Zeng ,&nbsp;Wenrui Zhang ,&nbsp;Yongchao Lei ,&nbsp;Yanlong Wang ,&nbsp;Peng Liang ,&nbsp;Xuelong Lv ,&nbsp;Biao Kong ,&nbsp;Junhui Chen ,&nbsp;Zhenghao Xin","doi":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.015","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) is widely used as an additive flame retardant and has led to global pollution. Its has a large molecular mass and is prone to debromination and degradation under photothermal conditions, resulting in smaller homologous compounds. Due to the lack of standard substances for debromination products, the in-depth study of DBDPE environmental geochemical behavior through debromination conversion has been hindered. Therefore, based on DBDPE photodegradation experiment, this study first analyzed and identified the brominated products of DBDPE using high-performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure photoionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-APPI-TOF/MS). Four debromination products-nonabromodiphenyl ethane (nona-BDPE), octabromodiphenyl ethane (octa-BDPE), heptabromodiphenyl ethane (hepta-BDPE) and hexabromodiphenyl ethane (hexa-BDPE) are identified based on the characteristic ion peak of [M-Br+O]^- in negative ion mode. Subsequently, using methanol as the mobile phase, four debromination products of DBDPE were separated and purified with a semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (SP-HPLC) system equipped with an Agilent Zorbax Eclipse PAH column (4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 µm). The first-time acquisition of hexa-BDPE (60.00 µg), octa-BDPE (19.40 µg), hepta-BDPE (31.20 µg) and octa-BDPE (isomer, 45.20 µg) with purity exceeding 90 % has been achieved. Among them, the purity of one hepta-BDPE monomer is as high as 98.91 %. This study indicates that based on photodegradation experiments, the combination of HPLC-APPI-TOF/MS and SP-HPLC techniques can rapidly identify and prepare DBDPE debrominated products. This approach meets the requirements for preliminary research on the pollution characteristics of DBDPE debrominated compounds and offers a feasible solution for the preparation of standard reference materials for emerging pollutants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15788,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Sciences-china","volume":"158 ","pages":"Pages 674-685"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144604897","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development of a novel advanced treatment process for high-algae-laden reservoir water: Performance and mechanism","authors":"Jinyu Peng ,&nbsp;Yu Wang ,&nbsp;Zhenbang Li ,&nbsp;Chao Chen ,&nbsp;Quanyong Wang ,&nbsp;Yujiang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.014","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A novel inverted advanced treatment process of ozone/hydrogen peroxide (O₃/H₂O₂) and biological activated carbon fluidized bed (BACFB) before the conventional process has been developed to treat the high-algae-laden reservoir water, which aims to enhance the removal of dissolved organic matter (DOM), odorants as well as the precursors of disinfection by-products (DBPs). Before and after the renovation, the average value of chemical oxygen demand (determined by potassium permanganate method) in the filter effluent decreased from 2.18 to 1.15 mg/L. Likewise, the average concentrations of turbidity dropped from 0.640 to 0.098 NTU, indicating substantial improvement following the renovation. Formation potential of DBPs such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids were also reduced greatly. The results of the polarity rapid analysis method indicated that ozonation primarily removed non-polar and positively charged organic matter, while coagulation-sedimentation targeted non-positive organic matter. The results of fluorescence spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry indicated that the new process effectively removed DOM, and decreased the number of nitrogen-containing compounds. Additionally, the inverted O₃/H₂O₂ and BACFB process promoted the dynamic transformation between DOM components and significantly reduced overall aromatic content. This study provided a promising solution for treating high-algae-laden source water and verified the feasibility and effectiveness of this novel process in practice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15788,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Sciences-china","volume":"158 ","pages":"Pages 281-295"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144479984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Volatile fatty acids produced by waste activated sludge with low-dose nano-zero-valent iron synchronized with low-intensity ultrasonication pretreatment","authors":"Yingte Li ,&nbsp;Yexuan Wen ,&nbsp;Shiting Liu ,&nbsp;Baihong An ,&nbsp;Taoqin Chen ,&nbsp;Jianyue Zhang ,&nbsp;Jinfeng Liu ,&nbsp;Hongbin Chen ,&nbsp;Xianchun Tang","doi":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recently, using anaerobic hydrolysis of waste activated sludge (WAS) to recover volatile fatty acids (VFAs) as carbon sources for denitrification has been widely studied, and the key is to solve the problem of improving the solubility and bioavailability of WAS organic matter. Considering the energy consumption and chemical cost, this paper used low-dose nano-zero-valent iron (NZVI) coupled with low-intensity ultrasonication (US) to pretreat WAS, and explored the effects of different treatment sequences on the fragmentation of WAS flocs particles, the dissolution of organic matter, and the subsequent biofermentation conversion process. The results showed low-dose NZVI synchronized with low-intensity US (NZVIUS) worked best for WAS anaerobic fermentation. Compared with 2062 mg/L in control group, soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) after NZVIUS treatment reached up to 2786 mg/L during the fermentation cycle, and the initial release rate of SCOD increased by 69 %. The VFAs production was elevated from 1522 to 1940 mg COD/L. NZVIUS pretreatment promoted the solubilization of attached organic matter, manifested by the fragmentation of WAS flocs and cell lysis. At the same time, proteins and carbohydrates in the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) had different types of migration and transformation, and transfer of EPS can contribute 35.6 % to SCOD. Moreover, adding NZVI promoted PO₄³⁻-P recovery in the fermentation supernatant by 22.3 % more than in day 4 control. This study demonstrated that the NZVIUS pretreatment method can effectively improve the production of VFAs by WAS anaerobic fermentation, meeting the practical needs of wastewater plants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15788,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Sciences-china","volume":"157 ","pages":"Pages 340-353"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143948740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Removal mechanisms of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in biochar and its effects on plant growth","authors":"Canxu Yao ,&nbsp;Bing Wang ,&nbsp;Masud Hassan ,&nbsp;Huajie Xu ,&nbsp;Xiangui Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.013","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) could be produced during the preparation of biochar, which may pose potential risks to the environment and human health. Existing research mainly focuses on the removal efficiency of PAHs in biochar using different methods. Still, there are few reports on the removal mechanism of PAHs and the impact of treated biochar on plant growth. This study prepared biochar by pyrolysis of sewage sludge, pig manure, and distillers grains at 300, 500, and 600 °C, respectively. The prepared biochar was subjected to thermal treatment, water washing treatment, and hydrothermal treatment to investigate the removal mechanism of PAHs in biochar and evaluate its effect on plant growth. The results showed that the removal rates of PAHs in biochar by hydrothermal treatment, thermal treatment, and water washing were 36.79 %-86.09 %, 80.00 %-89.90 %, and 19.15 %-72.40 %, respectively. Compared with thermal treatment and water washing treatments, the hydrothermal treatment is more effective. The removal rate of PAHs in sludge biochar with a pyrolysis temperature of 300 °C by hydrothermal treatment reached 86.09 % under 80 °C for 2 h. The removal mechanisms of PAHs include weakening hydrophobic interaction and thermal desorption. The germination results indicate that treated biochar reduces malondialdehyde content in mung bean seedlings and increases superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase activities. Sludge biochar after hydrothermal treatment is more conducive to the growth of mung beans than pristine biochar. This study provides an effective pathway for the safe utilization of biochar.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15788,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Sciences-china","volume":"158 ","pages":"Pages 309-323"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144490877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of soil labile carbon fractions and microbes on GHG emissions from flooding to drying in paddy fields","authors":"Yi Xiao ,&nbsp;Rong Huang ,&nbsp;Zongjin Zhang ,&nbsp;Vanessa N.L. Wong ,&nbsp;Xingyu Li ,&nbsp;Xiaoyan Tang ,&nbsp;Youlin Luo ,&nbsp;Yingjie Wu ,&nbsp;Jiang Liu ,&nbsp;Shiwei Li ,&nbsp;Changquan Wang ,&nbsp;Bing Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.016","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil microorganisms and labile soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions are essential factors affecting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in paddy fields. However, the effects of labile SOC fractions and microorganisms on GHG emissions from flooding to drying after organic fertilizer replacing for chemical fertilizer remain unclear. Here, a long-term experiment was conducted with four treatments: chemical fertilization only (control), organic fertilizer substituting 25 % of chemical N fertilizer (NM1), 50 % of chemical N fertilizer (NM2), and NM2 combined with crop straw (NMS). GHG emissions were monitored, and soil samples were collected to determine labile SOC fractions and microorganisms. Results revealed the GHG emissions in the NM2 significantly increased by 196.88 % from flooding to drying, mainly due to the higher CO₂ emissions. The GHG emissions per kg of C input in NMS was the lowest with the value of 9.17. From flooding to drying, organic fertilizer application significantly increased the readily oxidizable organic carbon (ROC) contents and C lability; the NM2 and NMS dramatically increased the SOC and non-readily oxidizable organic carbon (NROC). The bacterial communities showed significant differences among different treatments in the flooding, while the significant difference was only found between the NMS and other treatments in the drying. From flooding to drying, changing soil moisture conditions causes C fractions and microbial communities to jointly affect carbon emissions, and the NMS promoted carbon sequestration and mitigated GHG emissions. Our findings highlight the importance of the labile SOC fractions and microorganisms linked to GHG emissions in paddy fields.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15788,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Sciences-china","volume":"158 ","pages":"Pages 420-434"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144514118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unraveling multiple effects of environmental factors on nutrient release: Towards optimal conditions in agricultural drainage ditches","authors":"Yang Gao ,&nbsp;Peifang Wang ,&nbsp;Bin Hu ,&nbsp;Jin Qian ,&nbsp;Qiutong Jin ,&nbsp;Qiang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.017","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agricultural drainage ditches (ADDs) are widespread and serve as critical zones, playing a vital role in mitigating non-point source nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollution in farmland. However, limited information is known about the interaction relationship between multiple factors and nutrient release in multistage ADDs. Here, a comprehensive five-level agricultural drainage system (comprising field, sublateral, head, branch, and trunk ditches) was selected as the study model. We developed a simulation setup and applied the Box–Behnken Design (BBD) model to systematically examine the influence of various environmental factors on nutrient release dynamics. The results demonstrated that the developed regression model (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.0001) reliably predicted total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in multistage ADDs. Based on the response surface plots and contour lines, optimal release conditions for nutrients in multistage ADDs (5 days, 296 K, 1.03 mg/L N, 0.10 mg/L P) were determined through multi-objective optimization. We found that nutrient application exerted the most substantial influence on the release conditions. As field water was discharged into the ditches, the nutrient levels were decreased progressively. Overall, the N and P release processes in multistage ADDs were jointly influenced by environmental factors and ditch scale. These findings offer a solid theory for studying nutrient release and deposition in multistage ADDs, providing key insights for managing farmland ditches to reduce agricultural pollution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15788,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Sciences-china","volume":"158 ","pages":"Pages 542-554"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144579546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Differential photosynthetic and metabolic susceptibility of Microcystis aeruginosa and Raphidocelis subcapitata to environmentally relevant levels of Diuron","authors":"Zichao Gong ,&nbsp;Jun Sha ,&nbsp;Yunlu Jia ,&nbsp;Jin Ma ,&nbsp;Licheng Huang ,&nbsp;Guofei Dai ,&nbsp;Lirong Song","doi":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The sensitivity of phytoplankton growth to chemical stressors influences the composition and function of phytoplankton communities. In this study, we compared the growth, photosynthetic, and metabolic responses of the cyanobacterium <em>Microcystis aeruginosa</em> FACHB-469 and the green alga <em>Raphidocelis subcapitata</em> FACHB-271 to herbicide diuron. The 5-day growth inhibition test showed the <em>M. aeruginosa</em> FACHB-469 is more sensitive to diuron. Meanwhile, the photosynthetic performance, quantum yield and efficiencies, and structural indicators of the photosynthetic apparatus were influenced by environmentally relevant levels of diuron differently between the two phytoplankton. These photosynthetic alterations were more significant in the <em>M. aeruginosa</em> FACHB-469 than in the <em>R. subcapitata</em> FACHB-271 under the three levels of diuron (5, 10, and 20 µg/L). Cellular metabolism of the two phytoplankton was considerably disturbed after diuron exposure. The metabolism of amino acids, such as L-arginine, L-homoserine, and N-Acetyl-L-alanine, was significantly altered in the <em>R. subcapitata</em> FACHB-271, while only L-valine level was significantly altered in the <em>M. aeruginosa</em> FACHB-469. The levels of allantoic acid, epicatechin, and taurine were significantly downregulated in the <em>R. subcapitata</em> FACHB-271, while pyrimidine metabolism and γ-linolenic acid metabolism were altered in the <em>M. aeruginosa</em> FACHB-469. Overall, distinct responses in photosynthetic physiology and cellular metabolism are suggestive of invisible differences under environmentally relevant level of diuron, contributing to the differences in sensitivity of growth between the two phytoplankton under diuron.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15788,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Sciences-china","volume":"158 ","pages":"Pages 895-906"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144633574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tire particles of different sizes induce a proinflammatory response of varying intensity in lung cells","authors":"Abderrahmane Bouredji ,&nbsp;Bogdan Muresan-Paslaru ,&nbsp;Riadh Lakhmi ,&nbsp;Raphaël Passas ,&nbsp;Jérémie Pourchez ,&nbsp;Valérie Forest","doi":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Pollution from road traffic contributes significantly to air pollution through pollutants from exhaust emissions (gases and particles) and non-exhaust emissions (tire wear particles, brake wear particles and the resuspension of road dust). This research examined the hazard of tire particles (TP) and in particular evaluated the effect of TP size on lung macrophages. TP were obtained by cryogenic grinding of a tire and subsequent sieving to obtain four groups of particles (TP70, TP30, TP15, TP5) of different sizes with average diameters of 107 µm, 55 µm, 22 µm, and 6 µm, respectively. A complete physicochemical characterization was performed to determine the size distribution, chemical composition and morphology of these particles. We then investigated the proinflammatory response, oxidative stress and cytotoxicity induced in RAW264.7 cells exposed to four different TP concentrations for 24 h. TP had no direct effect on cytotoxicity, nor did they increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the cells. However, TP induced a significant and size-dependent proinflammatory effect, which was particularly pronounced with small particles. Moreover, this effect was concentration-dependent.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15788,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Sciences-china","volume":"158 ","pages":"Pages 586-597"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144597364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Variations of source and aerosol composition over ten years: Implications for Clean Air Action Plan in a rapidly developing megacity","authors":"Yanqi Huangfu ,&nbsp;Yingze Tian ,&nbsp;Yuting Wei ,&nbsp;Han Xu ,&nbsp;Danlin Song ,&nbsp;Fengxia Huang ,&nbsp;Yinchang Feng","doi":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jes.2025.03.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A long-term (2007–2016) particulate matter dataset measured at multiple sites in Chengdu, an expanding megacity in southwest China, was analyzed. The trends of particulate chemical compositions and source apportionment were used to evaluate and review the effectiveness of source-specific control policies and measures in Atmospheric Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (APPCAP). The concentration of particulate matter decreased significantly, and most aerosol components changed synchronously with particulate matter. The results of advanced three-way factor analysis model suggested that six sources were resolved at three sites: coal combustion, vehicle, crustal dust, cement, sulfate, nitrate and secondary organic matter. Secondary source, including secondary organic carbon (SOC), sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium (SNA), was always the main pollution source in this region. Dust, including cement and crustal dust, was important primary source. Encouragingly, coal combustion had been significantly controlled after APPCAP. The central site represented the higher contribution of vehicles, nitrates and SOC, while north and eastern sites showed the higher contribution of sulfate, coal combustion and dust. Many evidence points to substantial alterations in the physicochemical attributes of Chengdu's atmosphere. The rising proportion of nitrate and the transition of the atmospheric environment from ammonia-poor to ammonia-rich conditions highlight the necessity for the next phase of particulate matter control to focus intensively on the management of NH₃ and NO<em>_x</em>. China's APPCAP could provide useful experience for vast developing countries and other urbanizing and industrializing regions to strike a balance between social development and environmental protection.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15788,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Sciences-china","volume":"158 ","pages":"Pages 633-643"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144597363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}