Pollution Characteristics and Sources of Carbonyl Compounds in Zhengzhou Ambient Air of Winter and Summer

To study the pollution characteristics of Carbonyl compounds in atmospheric environment of Zhengzhou city in 2012,air samples were collected three days in a row in both winter and summer at six feature sites. The levels of carbonyl compounds in the ambient air of Zhengzhou were measured by 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine-high performance liquid chromatography methods. The characterizations and their primary sources were also studied. The results were shown as follows,formaldehyde,acetaldehyde,acetone and 2-butyraldehyde were found to be the most predominant carbonyls in the ambient air of Zhengzhou city,with the average concentrations of 8. 23,7. 67,13. 9,1. 56 μg /m3 in winter and 15. 4,10. 3,17. 1,3. 30 μg /m3 in summer respectively,which shows the concentrations were obvious higher in summer than that in winter. The results also showed that the concentrations in daytime were higher than that at night,the highest concentrations of formaldehyde,acetaldehyde and acetone appeared on 08: 00 to 09: 00 or 12: 00 to 13: 00 or 18: 00 to 20: 00. The good correlations of formaldehyde,acetaldehyde and acetone in winter indicated that they were possible to derived from the same source. The correlation between formaldehyde and acetaldehyde was better in summer,while that between formaldehyde,acetaldehyde and acetone was worse in summer. The variation of carbonyls concentrations implies that vehicle exhaust and the photo-oxidation of hydrocarbons might be the important sources of carbonyls.