Physicochemical characteristics of individual indoor airborne particles in the high lung cancer rate area in Xuanwei, China

Hu, Ying, Shao, Longyi, BéruBé, Kelly ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7471-7229, Wang, Ningping, Hou, Cong, Fan, Jingsen and Jones, Tim ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4466-1260 2025. Physicochemical characteristics of individual indoor airborne particles in the high lung cancer rate area in Xuanwei, China. Atmosphere 16 (2) , 187. 10.3390/atmos16020187

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (5MB)

Abstract

Emissions from domestic coal burning are generally recognized as the cause of the lung cancer epidemic in Xuanwei City, Yunnan Province, China. To examine the physicochemical characteristics of airborne particles emitted from burning this locally sourced coal, PM2.5 samples were collected from Hutou village which has high levels of lung cancer, and Xize village located approximately 30 km from Hutou without lung cancer cases. Transmission Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray (TEM-EDX) analysis was employed to study the physiochemical features and chemistry of individual particles. Sulfur and silica are the most abundant elements found in the airborne particles in both of the two villages. Fewer elements in aerosol particles were found in Xize village compared with Hutou village. Based on the morphologies and chemical compositions, the particles in Xuanwei can be classified into five types including composite particles (38.6%); organic, soot, tar balls, and biologicals (28.3%); sulfate (14.1%); fly ash (9.8%); and minerals (9.2%). The particles in Hutou village are abundant in the size range of 0.4–0.8 μm while that in Xize is 0.7–0.8 μm. Composite particles are the most common types in all the size ranges. The percentage of composite particles shows two peaks in the small size range (0.1–0.2 μm) and the large size ranges (2–2.3 μm) in Hutou village while that shows an even distribution in all size ranges in Xize village. Core-shell particles are typical types of composite particles, with the solid ‘core’ consisting of materials such as fly ash or mineral grains, and the shell or surface layer being an adhering soluble compound such as sulfates or organics. The heterogeneous reactions of particles with acidic liquid layers produce the core-shell structures. Typically, the equivalent diameter of the core-shell particles is in the range of 0.5–2.5 μm, averaging 1.6 μm, and the core-shell ratio is usually between 0.4 and 0.8, with an average of 0.6. Regardless of the sizes of the particles, the relatively high core-shell ratios imply a less aging state, which suggests that the core-shell particles were relatively recently formed. Once the coal-burning particles are inhaled into the human deep lung, they can cause damage to lung cells and harm to human health.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences Earth and Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	MDPI
ISSN:	2073-4433
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	6 February 2025
Date of Acceptance:	3 February 2025
Last Modified:	13 Feb 2025 10:35
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/176009

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item