Assessment of Air Pollution Aggravation during Straw Burning in Hubei, Central China
Crop straw burning frequently occurs in Central China, where agriculture is highly productive. We carried out a two-month observation on straw burning in Hubei Province from September 1 to October 31, 2015 to track the variations of air pollutants and comprehensively quantify their influence on regi...
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doaj-cee210732d5e471e8073abba755763602020-11-25T01:21:52ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1660-46012019-04-01168144610.3390/ijerph16081446ijerph16081446Assessment of Air Pollution Aggravation during Straw Burning in Hubei, Central ChinaBo Zhu0Yu Zhang1Nan Chen2Jihong Quan3Hubei Environmental Monitoring Centre, Wuhan 430079, ChinaSchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, ChinaHubei Environmental Monitoring Centre, Wuhan 430079, ChinaHubei Environmental Monitoring Centre, Wuhan 430079, ChinaCrop straw burning frequently occurs in Central China, where agriculture is highly productive. We carried out a two-month observation on straw burning in Hubei Province from September 1 to October 31, 2015 to track the variations of air pollutants and comprehensively quantify their influence on regional air quality. Results showed that the concentration of suspended particles (particles smaller than 2.5 or 10 µm, i.e., PM<sub>2.5</sub>/PM<sub>10</sub>) and gas pollutants including ozone (O<sub>3</sub>), sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>), nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>), and carbon monoxide (CO) was significantly enhanced with the increasing number of fire spots. The average daily concentrations of PM<sub>10</sub>, PM<sub>2.5</sub> and O<sub>3</sub> during the intensive burning period (from October 12 to 25) exceeded the daily limits published by the World Health Organization (WHO) by 101.8, 72.7 and 59.1 μg/m<sup>3</sup>, respectively. In the hourly distribution of pollutant concentration, PM<sub>10,</sub> PM<sub>2.5</sub>, O<sub>3</sub>, SO<sub>2</sub>, NO<sub>2</sub> and CO were 63.49%, 46.29%, 65.56%, 64.40%, 48.57% and 13.49% higher during burning periods than during non-burning periods. Statistical results based on the air quality index (AQI) indicated that biomass burning was the key factor for the deterioration of local air quality, with a contribution ratio exceeding 41%. Additionally, the pollutants were more spatially homogeneous during the burning period than during the non-burning period. Straw burning not only worsened the local air quality but also raised the pollution level of surrounding regions due to the transport of air mass.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/8/1446air pollutionCentral Chinaparticulate matterstraw burning |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Bo Zhu Yu Zhang Nan Chen Jihong Quan |
spellingShingle |
Bo Zhu Yu Zhang Nan Chen Jihong Quan Assessment of Air Pollution Aggravation during Straw Burning in Hubei, Central China International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health air pollution Central China particulate matter straw burning |
author_facet |
Bo Zhu Yu Zhang Nan Chen Jihong Quan |
author_sort |
Bo Zhu |
title |
Assessment of Air Pollution Aggravation during Straw Burning in Hubei, Central China |
title_short |
Assessment of Air Pollution Aggravation during Straw Burning in Hubei, Central China |
title_full |
Assessment of Air Pollution Aggravation during Straw Burning in Hubei, Central China |
title_fullStr |
Assessment of Air Pollution Aggravation during Straw Burning in Hubei, Central China |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessment of Air Pollution Aggravation during Straw Burning in Hubei, Central China |
title_sort |
assessment of air pollution aggravation during straw burning in hubei, central china |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2019-04-01 |
description |
Crop straw burning frequently occurs in Central China, where agriculture is highly productive. We carried out a two-month observation on straw burning in Hubei Province from September 1 to October 31, 2015 to track the variations of air pollutants and comprehensively quantify their influence on regional air quality. Results showed that the concentration of suspended particles (particles smaller than 2.5 or 10 µm, i.e., PM<sub>2.5</sub>/PM<sub>10</sub>) and gas pollutants including ozone (O<sub>3</sub>), sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>), nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>), and carbon monoxide (CO) was significantly enhanced with the increasing number of fire spots. The average daily concentrations of PM<sub>10</sub>, PM<sub>2.5</sub> and O<sub>3</sub> during the intensive burning period (from October 12 to 25) exceeded the daily limits published by the World Health Organization (WHO) by 101.8, 72.7 and 59.1 μg/m<sup>3</sup>, respectively. In the hourly distribution of pollutant concentration, PM<sub>10,</sub> PM<sub>2.5</sub>, O<sub>3</sub>, SO<sub>2</sub>, NO<sub>2</sub> and CO were 63.49%, 46.29%, 65.56%, 64.40%, 48.57% and 13.49% higher during burning periods than during non-burning periods. Statistical results based on the air quality index (AQI) indicated that biomass burning was the key factor for the deterioration of local air quality, with a contribution ratio exceeding 41%. Additionally, the pollutants were more spatially homogeneous during the burning period than during the non-burning period. Straw burning not only worsened the local air quality but also raised the pollution level of surrounding regions due to the transport of air mass. |
topic |
air pollution Central China particulate matter straw burning |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/8/1446 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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