干旱区研究

Arid Zone Research ›› 2023, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (3): 349-357.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2023.03.02

• Weather and Climate • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Air quality characteristics and its potential health effects in Hotan City

WANG Na1,2(),Tayierjiang AISHAN1,2(),Yumiti HALIKE1,2,WANG Huijuan1,2,Maierhaba WUMAIER1,2   

  1. 1. College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, Xinjiang, China
    2. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology, Urumqi 830046, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2022-08-20 Revised:2022-10-03 Online:2023-03-15 Published:2023-03-31

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Abstract:

The status of air pollution in China has been recognized as a serious health concern in numerous academic circles. Air quality is an important factor for defining air pollution, and main pollutants used to evaluate its quality, include PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O3. Hotan is one of the oasis cities with severe air pollution crisis. The located in the southwest edge of Taklimakan Desert in the southernmost part of the Northwest Xinjiang province in China. The soil structure in this area is loose, dust storms are frequent, and particles carried by dust storms are heavily deposited, which result in an increase in the concentration of pollutants. Therefore, the air Pollution caused by these particles results in severe challenges. Different types of air pollutants have varied hazards to human health, for example, PM2.5 and PM10, which are the main air pollutants in Hotan City, cause serious human respiratory tract infections, and their sources are extensive, hazardious, and difficult to eliminate. The rapid economic development in recent years and the accelerated urbanization have aggravated the deterioration of air quality in Hotan City, posing a great threat to the physical and mental health of local residents. Therefore, understanding the characteristics of air quality and its potential health effects in Hotan City is crucial for controlling urban air pollution and improving local ecological environment. This study used the historical air quality data in Hotan from 2016 to 2021 to analyze the distribution characteristics of pollutants, to determine the relationship between air quality and potential human health effects, and to evaluate the correlation between pollution levels and air pollutants, such as PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, O3-8H, and AQI. The results showed that between 2016 and 2021, the concentration of O3-8H in two air pollution monitoring points in Hotan had an inverted U-shaped trend, while the concentration of other pollutants showed a U-shaped curve distribution. PM2.5 and PM10 were detected as the main pollutants throughout the year, and their concentrations were relatively high in spring. In addition, concentrations of SO2 and NO2 were high in autumn and winter, while those of CO and O3-8H were high in winter and summer, respectively. During the study period, the concentration of PM2.5 and SO2 decreased, while that of PM10 increased, but the overall air quality did not show significant improvement. The AQI value of air quality index in Hotan City was higher than the national second class level, and its value during the “unhealthy” air quality period was much higher than that during the “healthy” air quality, which suggested a high harmful potential to the physical and mental health of residents.

Key words: PM2.5 fine particle pollutants, air quality index, health effect, Hotan City