Salt in Air: Beyond Sea Spray in Coastal City Pollution
Exciting News for Air Quality Monitoring!
A study by Dr. Wu Xiaorui at NUS Environmental Research Institute and NUS Civil and Environmental Engineering has improved the air pollutants characterization method by distinguishing airborne salts emitting from natural sea spray from human activities, especially for coastal cities. This upgrades the method with a new capability to better pinpoint sources of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which could be associated with health concerns of respiratory and cardiovascular issues.
Stakeholders can now better identify how much PM2.5 comes from natural sea spray and various human-driven activities. This can enable policy making to target the right sources to improve urban air quality, a stepping stone to meet the tough goal PM2.5, an annual concentration of 5 µg/m³, recommended by the World Health Organization.
Assoc Prof Liya E. Yu, the advisor of Dr. Wu’s research work, commented that the work is built upon a team effort, studying the chemical composition of PM2.5 studied by many researchers in the group. “The research work is similar to detective’s job, or a type of forensic work about PM2.5.”, she said. She envisions that the similar technique can be fine-tuned to apply to other inland areas, beyond the coastal region.
Applause to the team for this impactful contribution to environmental science!
This work is published in:
Environmental Science & Technology 58(19):8432-8443, 2024 “Refined Sea Salt Markers for Coastal Cities Facilitating Quantification of Aerosol Aging and PM2.5 Apportionment” by Xiaorui Wu, Quan Kong, Yang Lan, Judy Sng, and Liya E. Yu