Characteristic of PM2.5 concentration and source apportionment during winter in Seosan, Korea

Seosan is a concentrated industrial complex in the midwestern region of Korea. A study was conducted from December 2020 to January 2021, measuring PM2.5 and chemical components in Seosan using online instruments every hour. The concentration of PM2.5 during the winter season was 31.4±17.8 μg/m³, exceeding the national ambient air quality standard of Korea. The mass fraction of organic matter, elemental carbon, three major ions, five minor ions, crustal elements, and trace elements in PM2.5 accounted for 24.5%, 4.36%, 32.0%, 2.82%, 4.11%, and 5.17% of the total PM2.5 mass concentration, respectively. Source identification was conducted using positive matrix factorization modeling, revealing eight sources of PM2.5: Secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA), vehicle exhaust, industry, coal combustion, biomass burning/incinerator, oil combustion, soil, and aged sea salt. Source contributions varied during high pollution episodes (HPE), with SIA dominating in HPE1 and soil and aged sea salt in HPE2. The potential source contribution function and conditional probability function were utilized to estimate the potential local and regional emission areas for the identified sources. In Seosan, vehicle exhaust and biomass burning/incinerator were primarily influenced by local sources. SIA, industry, and oil combustion sources were significantly affected by short-range transport from eastern China. Soil and aged sea salt, which exhibited high contributions during HPE2, were associated with long-range transport from Inner Mongolia. Coal combustion was attributed to both local sources, particularly large industrial complexes near Seosan, and long-range transport from Northeast China and Inner Mongolia.

Graphical Abstract