Proteins and Amino Acids in Fine Particulate Matter in Rural Guangzhou, Southern China: Seasonal Cycles, Sources, and Atmospheric Processes

作者：Tianli Song, Shan Wang, Yingyi Zhang, Junwei Song, Fobang Liu, Pingqing Fu, Manabu Shiraiwa, Zhiyong Xie, Dingli Yue, Liuju Zhong, Junyu Zheng, Senchao Lai · 发表于：Environmental Science & Technology · 年份：2017 · DOI：10.1021/acs.est.7b00987 · 被引用次数：123 · 研究领域：Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols、Air Quality and Health Impacts、Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure

Water-soluble proteinaceous matter including proteins and free amino acids (FAAs) as well as some other chemical components was analyzed in fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) samples collected over a period of one year in rural Guangzhou. Annual averaged protein and total FAAs concentrations were 0.79 ± 0.47 μg m –3 and 0.13 ± 0.05 μg m –3, accounting for 1.9 ± 0.7% and 0.3 ± 0.1% of PM 2.5, respectively. Among FAAs, glycine was the most abundant species (19.9%), followed by valine (18.5%), methionine (16.1%), and phenylalanine (13.5%). Both proteins and FAAs exhibited distinct seasonal variations with higher concentrations in autumn and winter than those in spring and summer. Correlation analysis suggests that aerosol proteinaceous matter was mainly derived from intensive agricultural activities, biomass burning, and fugitive dust/soil resuspension. Significant correlations between proteins/FAAs and atmospheric oxidant (O 3 ) indicate that proteins/FAAs may be involved in O 3 related atmospheric processes. Our observation confirms that ambient FAAs could be degraded from proteins under the influence of O 3, and the stoichiometric coefficients of the reactions were estimated for FAAs and glycine. This finding provides a possible pathway for the production of aerosol FAAs in the atmosphere, which will improve the current understanding on atmospheric processes of proteinaceous matter.