Variations in Concentration and Solubility of Iron in Atmospheric Fine Particles During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Example from China

Overview

Journal Gondwana Res

Date 2022 Jun 20

PMID 35721257

Authors

Lei Liu

Qiuhan Lin

Zhuoran Liang

Rongguang Du

Guizhen Zhang

Yanhong Zhu

Bing Qi

Shengzhen Zhou

Weijun Li

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Iron (Fe) in the atmosphere can affect atmospheric chemical processes and human health. When deposited into oceans, it can further influence phytoplankton growth. These roles of Fe fundamentally depend on its concentration and solubility. However, the sources of aerosol Fe and controlling factors of Fe solubility in megacities remain poorly understood. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic causes large changes in human activities, which provides a unique opportunity to answer these key issues. Field observations were conducted before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown in Hangzhou, China. Our results show that in the COVID-19 lockdown stage, the concentrations of total Fe (Fe, 75.0 ng m) and soluble Fe (Fe, 5.1 ng m) in PM decreased by 78% and 62%, respectively, compared with those (Fe 344.7 ng m, Fe 13.5 ng m) in the pre-lockdown stage. The sharp reduction (81%) in on-road vehicles was most responsible for the aerosol Fe decrease. Surprisingly, the Fe solubility increased by a factor of 1.9, from 4.2% in the pre-lockdown stage to 7.8% in the COVID-19 lockdown stage. We found that the atmospheric oxidizing capacity was enhanced after lockdown restrictions were implemented, which promoted the formation of more acidic species and further enhanced the dissolution of aerosol Fe.

Citing Articles

COVID-19 lockdown has indirect, non-equivalent effects on activity patterns of Reeves's Pheasant () and sympatric species.

Hua J, Tian S, Lu S, Zhu Z, Huang X, Tao J Avian Res. 2023; 14:100092.

PMID: 37155432 PMC: 10014503. DOI: 10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100092.

Unexpected rise of atmospheric secondary aerosols from biomass burning during the COVID-19 lockdown period in Hangzhou, China.

Xu H, Chen L, Chen J, Bao Z, Wang C, Gao X Atmos Environ (1994). 2022; 278:119076.

PMID: 35370436 PMC: 8958265. DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2022.119076.

References

Lv Z, Wang X, Deng F, Ying Q, Archibald A, Jones R . Source-Receptor Relationship Revealed by the Halted Traffic and Aggravated Haze in Beijing during the COVID-19 Lockdown. Environ Sci Technol. 2020; 54(24):15660-15670. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c04941. View

Zhang Y, Liu X, Fang Y, Liu D, Tang A, Collett Jr J . Atmospheric Ammonia in Beijing during the COVID-19 Outbreak: Concentrations, Sources, and Implications. Environ Sci Technol Lett. 2023; 8(1):32-38. DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00756. View

Al-Abadleh H, Rana M, Mohammed W, Guzman M . Dark Iron-Catalyzed Reactions in Acidic and Viscous Aerosol Systems Efficiently Form Secondary Brown Carbon. Environ Sci Technol. 2020; 55(1):209-219. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c05678. View

Chen H, Laskin A, Baltrusaitis J, Gorski C, Scherer M, Grassian V . Coal fly ash as a source of iron in atmospheric dust. Environ Sci Technol. 2012; 46(4):2112-20. DOI: 10.1021/es204102f. View

Charrier J, Anastasio C . On dithiothreitol (DTT) as a measure of oxidative potential for ambient particles: evidence for the importance of soluble transition metals. Atmos Chem Phys. 2013; 12(5):11317-11350. PMC: 3564657. DOI: 10.5194/acpd-12-11317-2012. View

Fu H, Lin J, Shang G, Dong W, Grassian V, Carmichael G . Solubility of iron from combustion source particles in acidic media linked to iron speciation. Environ Sci Technol. 2012; 46(20):11119-27. DOI: 10.1021/es302558m. View

Xu L, Zhang J, Sun X, Xu S, Shan M, Yuan Q . Variation in Concentration and Sources of Black Carbon in a Megacity of China During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Geophys Res Lett. 2020; 47(23):e2020GL090444. PMC: 7744912. DOI: 10.1029/2020GL090444. View

Yuan Q, Teng X, Tu S, Feng B, Wu Z, Xiao H . Atmospheric fine particles in a typical coastal port of Yangtze River Delta. J Environ Sci (China). 2020; 98:62-70. DOI: 10.1016/j.jes.2020.05.026. View

Li W, Xu L, Liu X, Zhang J, Lin Y, Yao X . Air pollution-aerosol interactions produce more bioavailable iron for ocean ecosystems. Sci Adv. 2017; 3(3):e1601749. PMC: 5332152. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1601749. View

10.

Sun Y, Lei L, Zhou W, Chen C, He Y, Sun J . A chemical cocktail during the COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing, China: Insights from six-year aerosol particle composition measurements during the Chinese New Year holiday. Sci Total Environ. 2020; 742:140739. PMC: 7334657. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140739. View

11.

Cao Y, Shao L, Jones T, Oliveira M, Ge S, Feng X . Multiple relationships between aerosol and COVID-19: A framework for global studies. Gondwana Res. 2021; 93:243-251. PMC: 7871891. DOI: 10.1016/j.gr.2021.02.002. View

12.

Huang R, Cheng R, Jing M, Yang L, Li Y, Chen Q . Source-Specific Health Risk Analysis on Particulate Trace Elements: Coal Combustion and Traffic Emission As Major Contributors in Wintertime Beijing. Environ Sci Technol. 2018; 52(19):10967-10974. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b02091. View

13.

Huang X, Ding A, Gao J, Zheng B, Zhou D, Qi X . Enhanced secondary pollution offset reduction of primary emissions during COVID-19 lockdown in China. Natl Sci Rev. 2021; 8(2):nwaa137. PMC: 7337733. DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwaa137. View

14.

Tian H, Liu Y, Li Y, Wu C, Chen B, Kraemer M . An investigation of transmission control measures during the first 50 days of the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Science. 2020; 368(6491):638-642. PMC: 7164389. DOI: 10.1126/science.abb6105. View

15.

Ito A, Myriokefalitakis S, Kanakidou M, Mahowald N, Scanza R, Hamilton D . Pyrogenic iron: The missing link to high iron solubility in aerosols. Sci Adv. 2019; 5(5):eaau7671. PMC: 6494496. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aau7671. View

16.

Mahowald N, Hamilton D, Mackey K, Moore J, Baker A, Scanza R . Aerosol trace metal leaching and impacts on marine microorganisms. Nat Commun. 2018; 9(1):2614. PMC: 6033952. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04970-7. View

17.

Shi Z, Song C, Liu B, Lu G, Xu J, Vu T . Abrupt but smaller than expected changes in surface air quality attributable to COVID-19 lockdowns. Sci Adv. 2021; 7(3). PMC: 7806219. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd6696. View

18.

Harris E, Sinha B, van Pinxteren D, Tilgner A, Fomba K, Schneider J . Enhanced role of transition metal ion catalysis during in-cloud oxidation of SO2. Science. 2013; 340(6133):727-30. DOI: 10.1126/science.1230911. View

19.

Yuan Q, Qi B, Hu D, Wang J, Zhang J, Yang H . Spatiotemporal variations and reduction of air pollutants during the COVID-19 pandemic in a megacity of Yangtze River Delta in China. Sci Total Environ. 2020; 751:141820. PMC: 7440035. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141820. View

20.

Mahowald N, Engelstaedter S, Luo C, Sealy A, Artaxo P, Benitez-Nelson C . Atmospheric iron deposition: global distribution, variability, and human perturbations. Ann Rev Mar Sci. 2010; 1:245-78. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163727. View