Long-term observations of oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) in an urban atmosphere in southern China, 2014–2019

Oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) are important precursors and intermediate products of atmospheric photochemical reactions, which can promote the formation of secondary pollutants such as ozone (O3) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA). However, there have been few studies on the sources of and long-term variation in ambient OVOCs. This study combined sensitive, near real-time measurements of VOCs by proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) with an improved photochemical age parameterization method to quantify daytime sources of OVOCs in an urban atmosphere in China from 2014 to 2019, permitting the observation of the impacts of emission control strategies that were implemented during this period. Temporal variation in six key OVOCs (methanol, acetaldehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), formic acid, and acetic acid) were observed. The sum of concentrations of OVOCs was averagely 13% higher during the dry season (November to April), when winds transported polluted air masses to Shenzhen from the continent, than during the wet season, and peak diurnal levels occurred during the daytime year-round due to photochemical production and higher daytime anthropogenic emissions. The average dry season concentration of OVOCs declined from a peak of 30.3 ppb in 2015 to 18.7 ppb in 2019. The results of source apportionment showed that primary anthropogenic sources contributed the most to methanol, MEK, and acetic acid (32–51%); the dominant sources of acetaldehyde and formic acid were both primary and secondary anthropogenic sources; and biomass burning contributed a small fraction (5–11%) to the six OVOCs. From 2014 to 2019, contributions from primary anthropogenic sources of OVOCs decreased significantly by 50–60% due to intensive pollution control measures in Shenzhen, whereas pollution control measures had no observable impact on secondary OVOCs, indicating their formation was not limited by availability of their primary VOC precursors.