Large contribution of fossil-derived components to aqueous secondary organic aerosols in China

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 5115
• Main Authors: Xu, Buqing, Zhang, Gan, Gustafsson, Örjan, Kawamura, Kimitaka, Li, Jun, Andersson, August, Bikkina, Srinivas, Kunwar, Bhagawati, Pokhrel, Ambarish, Zhong, Guangcai, Zhao, Shizhen, Li, Jing, Huang, Chen, Cheng, Zhineng, Zhu, Sanyuan, Peng, Pingan, Sheng, Guoying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 31-08-2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 140/58; 704/106/35/824; 704/106/694/674; 704/172/169/209; 704/172/169/824; Aerosols; Air quality; Anthropogenic factors; Carbon; Carbon isotopes; Chemical reactions; Climate change; Climate effects; Emissions; Environmental assessment; Fingerprinting; Fossil fuels; Fractionation; Human influences; Humanities and Social Sciences; Isotope fractionation; Isotopes; multidisciplinary; Organic loading; Oxalic acid; Precursors; Quality management; Radiative forcing; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32863-3

Incomplete understanding of the sources of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) leads to large uncertainty in both air quality management and in climate change assessment. Chemical reactions occurring in the atmospheric aqueous phase represent an important source of SOA mass, yet, the effects of anthropogenic emissions on the aqueous SOA (aqSOA) are not well constrained. Here we use compound-specific dual-carbon isotopic fingerprints (δ
13
C and Δ
14
C) of dominant aqSOA molecules, such as oxalic acid, to track the precursor sources and formation mechanisms of aqSOA. Substantial stable carbon isotope fractionation of aqSOA molecules provides robust evidence for extensive aqueous-phase processing. Contrary to the paradigm that these aqSOA compounds are largely biogenic, radiocarbon-based source apportionments show that fossil precursors produced over one-half of the aqSOA molecules. Large fractions of fossil-derived aqSOA contribute substantially to the total water-soluble organic aerosol load and hence impact projections of both air quality and anthropogenic radiative forcing. Our findings reveal the importance of fossil emissions for aqSOA with effects on climate and air quality.
Isotope fingerprinting is used to track precursor sources and formation pathways of aqueous SOA, such as oxalic acid, finding that fossil fuel precursors contributions have largely been underestimated.