Volume 200, 2017

Reactive oxygen species formed in aqueous mixtures of secondary organic aerosols and mineral dust influencing cloud chemistry and public health in the Anthropocene

Abstract

Mineral dust and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) account for a major fraction of atmospheric particulate matter, affecting climate, air quality and public health. How mineral dust interacts with SOA to influence cloud chemistry and public health, however, is not well understood. Here, we investigated the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are key species of atmospheric and physiological chemistry, in aqueous mixtures of SOA and mineral dust by applying electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometry in combination with a spin-trapping technique, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and a kinetic model. We found that substantial amounts of ROS including OH, superoxide as well as carbon- and oxygen-centred organic radicals can be formed in aqueous mixtures of isoprene, α-pinene, naphthalene SOA and various kinds of mineral dust (ripidolite, montmorillonite, kaolinite, palygorskite, and Saharan dust). The molar yields of total radicals were ∼0.02–0.5% at 295 K, which showed higher values at 310 K, upon 254 nm UV exposure, and under low pH (<3) conditions. ROS formation can be explained by the decomposition of organic hydroperoxides, which are a prominent fraction of SOA, through interactions with water and Fenton-like reactions with dissolved transition metal ions. Our findings imply that the chemical reactivity and aging of SOA particles can be enhanced upon interaction with mineral dust in deliquesced particles or cloud/fog droplets. SOA decomposition could be comparably important to the classical Fenton reaction of H2O2 with Fe2+ and that SOA can be the main source of OH radicals in aqueous droplets at low concentrations of H2O2 and Fe2+. In the human respiratory tract, the inhalation and deposition of SOA and mineral dust can also lead to the release of ROS, which may contribute to oxidative stress and play an important role in the adverse health effects of atmospheric aerosols in the Anthropocene.

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Jan 2017
Accepted
17 Feb 2017
First published
17 Feb 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Faraday Discuss., 2017,200, 251-270

Reactive oxygen species formed in aqueous mixtures of secondary organic aerosols and mineral dust influencing cloud chemistry and public health in the Anthropocene

H. Tong, P. S. J. Lakey, A. M. Arangio, J. Socorro, C. J. Kampf, T. Berkemeier, W. H. Brune, U. Pöschl and M. Shiraiwa, Faraday Discuss., 2017, 200, 251 DOI: 10.1039/C7FD00023E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements