Emission control measures cleaned urban air in Nanjing during the Youth Olympic Games

The study measured the concentrations and chemical composition of fine particles floating in the urban air of Nanjing in China.

During the games in August 2014, the mass concentration of fine particles was 31%, the total PAH content 59% and the concentrations of most heavy metals 44-89% lower than the reference values. The reference values were measured one year after the games in August 2015.

Some of the changes were due to variation in the weather and in the regional atmospheric transport. However, the study was able to clearly demonstrate that the emission controls had a positive impact on the city's air quality.

Further information:

Senior Scientist Ari Leskinen, Finnish Meteorological Institute, tel. +358 50 522 9148, ari.leskinen@fmi.fi

Miettinen M., Leskinen A., Abbaszade G., Orasche J., Sainio M., Mikkonen S., Koponen H., Rönkkö T., Ruusunen J., Kuuspalo K., Tiitta P., Jalava P., Hao L., Fang D., Wang Q., Gu C., Zhao Y., Michalke B., Schnelle-Kreis J., Lehtinen K.E.J., Zimmermann R., Komppula M., Jokiniemi J., Hirvonen, M.-R. & Sippula O. 2019. PM2.5 concentration and composition in the urban air of Nanjing, China: Effects of emission control measures applied during the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. Science of the Total Environment, 652, 1-18, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.191

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718340828