TY - JOUR
T1 - Atmospheric formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acetone in five major Chinese cities
T2 - Photochemical characteristics, sources, and joint ozone-carbonyl control strategies
AU - Yang, Jin
AU - Zeren, Yangzong
AU - Guo, Hai
AU - Wang, Yu
AU - Lyu, Xiaopu
AU - Zeng, Lewei
AU - Wang, Gehui
AU - Zhang, Fan
AU - Liu, Xufei
AU - Yao, Dawen
AU - Wang, Fengwen
N1 - This study was supported by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region via Theme-Based Research Scheme (T-24–508/22-N) and NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme (N_PolyU530/20), the National Key Research and Development Program of China via grant No. 2017YFC0212001, the research support scheme of Research Institute for Land and Space at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (1-CDLJ) and the Interdisciplinary Research Scheme of The Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (1-CDMK). The authors thank Haonan Zhang for his assistance in preparing Figure S2
Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.
PY - 2026/1/15
Y1 - 2026/1/15
N2 - Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acetone are the most abundant carbonyl-containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), with aldehydes posing health risks and acting as important photochemical intermediates that contribute to tropospheric ozone (O3) pollution. This study intercompared the characteristics of three carbonyls from simultaneous sampling in five major Chinese cities in the summer of 2018 and further assessed their sources, photochemical behavior, and environmental impacts using modeling approaches. Observations showed that Beijing (9.6 ± 0.1 ppbv) and Wuhan (5.2 ± 0.1 ppbv) exhibited the high formaldehyde concentrations, followed by Shanghai, Chengdu, and Lanzhou. Model simulation revealed the anthropogenic alkenes accounted for over 50 % formaldehyde in Beijing and Lanzhou, while isoprene influenced 10–20 % in other cities. Other VOC species contributed 1–2 % each, highlighting the complexity of VOC contributions for formaldehyde. In contrast, acetaldehyde and acetone were mainly produced from propene and α/β-pinene, respectively (about 50 % each), with the top ten VOCs accounting for around 90 %. Furthermore, carbonyls were quantified for O3 formation across the cities, with the highest in Beijing (33 %) and the lowest in Lanzhou (6 %). The comparison of their isopleths suggestsed that O3 reduction strategies can also effectively reduce carbonyls. Finally, source apportionment combined with chemical mechanisms traced sources of primary and secondary carbonyls, showing that vehicle emissions rich in alkenes were the largest contributors to the secondary aldehyde formation in all five cities. Including their primary contributions, vehicles accounted for 40–50 % of total aldehydes, followed by solvent usage. For acetone, biogenic sources dominated over anthropogenic ones. These findings deepen our understanding of carbonyl photochemistry and possible future mitigation strategies.
AB - Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acetone are the most abundant carbonyl-containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), with aldehydes posing health risks and acting as important photochemical intermediates that contribute to tropospheric ozone (O3) pollution. This study intercompared the characteristics of three carbonyls from simultaneous sampling in five major Chinese cities in the summer of 2018 and further assessed their sources, photochemical behavior, and environmental impacts using modeling approaches. Observations showed that Beijing (9.6 ± 0.1 ppbv) and Wuhan (5.2 ± 0.1 ppbv) exhibited the high formaldehyde concentrations, followed by Shanghai, Chengdu, and Lanzhou. Model simulation revealed the anthropogenic alkenes accounted for over 50 % formaldehyde in Beijing and Lanzhou, while isoprene influenced 10–20 % in other cities. Other VOC species contributed 1–2 % each, highlighting the complexity of VOC contributions for formaldehyde. In contrast, acetaldehyde and acetone were mainly produced from propene and α/β-pinene, respectively (about 50 % each), with the top ten VOCs accounting for around 90 %. Furthermore, carbonyls were quantified for O3 formation across the cities, with the highest in Beijing (33 %) and the lowest in Lanzhou (6 %). The comparison of their isopleths suggestsed that O3 reduction strategies can also effectively reduce carbonyls. Finally, source apportionment combined with chemical mechanisms traced sources of primary and secondary carbonyls, showing that vehicle emissions rich in alkenes were the largest contributors to the secondary aldehyde formation in all five cities. Including their primary contributions, vehicles accounted for 40–50 % of total aldehydes, followed by solvent usage. For acetone, biogenic sources dominated over anthropogenic ones. These findings deepen our understanding of carbonyl photochemistry and possible future mitigation strategies.
KW - Carbonyls
KW - Master Chemical Mechanism
KW - Radical Chemistry
KW - Source Apportionment
KW - Volatile Organic Compounds
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105023157458
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.140600
DO - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.140600
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 41319487
AN - SCOPUS:105023157458
SN - 0304-3894
VL - 502
JO - Journal of Hazardous Materials
JF - Journal of Hazardous Materials
M1 - 140600
ER -
