Associations between Airborne Concentrations of Black Carbon and Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) in Urban Hotspots of South Korea

摘要

Black carbon (BC) is an important constituent of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) because of its known effects on human health. In this study, we present the BC and corresponding PM2.5 concentrations measured in urban hotspots of South Korea. PM2.5 and BC concentrations were measured using the SidePak AM510 Personal Aerosol Monitor (TSI Inc., St. Paul, MN) and MicroAeth Model AE51 (Magee Scientific, Berkeley, CA). We conducted our measurements between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., and between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. to capture the morning and afternoon distributions of the pollutants during the daily rush-hour period at hotspots, including bus terminals and roadside curbs, in Seoul and other satellite cities of Seoul in summer 2013. The median concentrations of PM2.5 and BC ranged from 6.3 to 15.6 μg/m3 and from 1.9 to 8.5 μg/m3, respectively. The BC concentration accounts for 20% to 70% of the PM2.5 concentrations. The overall correlation coefficient between the PM2.5 and BC concentrations was 0.63 (p ＜ 0.001), ranging from 0.32 to 0.72 (p ＜ 0.001) depending on the sampling site.