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Student BIOS

LI Yugen

PhD in Environmental Science, Policy and Management - 2019

MPhil in Environmental Science, Policy and Management, HKUST

Email: ylidh@ust.hk

Supervisor:  Prof. YU Jianzhen       Co-Supervisor: Prof. CHAN Simon

Research Topic  
Difference and similarity: source apportionment of toxic organic compounds of atmospheric aerosol in Beijing and Pearl River Delta region
Keywords  
PM2.5, Toxicity, Health risk, PAHs, Air pollution sources
Abstract  

Air pollution issues in China these years drew great attention as well as its high-speed economic growth rate. Megacities are the most vulnerable from Beijing in the north to Guangzhou in the south. Real-time instrumental measurement combined with off-line filter based chemical detection are normally conducted to determine the major species of PM2.5 particles. As one of the most toxic carcinogens listed in WHO guideline, PAHs impose adverse health effect on human immune system. Although detection methods for measuring low molecular weight PAHs (composed of less than 4 aromatic rings) has been widely studied all around world. However, concentration of high molecular weight of PAHs (composed of 4 or more aromatic rings) have been rarely reported due to their higher hydrophobicity and weaker capability to ionize. In this study, we propose a more convenient way to analyze high molecular weight PAHs by HPLC system hyphenated with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometer. To fill up the all-time blank of large PAHs in air pollutant study, we further apportion PM2.5 species into different sources by using one-year Beijing and PRD four sites chemical data. The comparison of source profiles of two districts would unveil details of PM2.5 origins. In addition, the differences or similarities could help to enhance the understanding of particle formation in different meteorology condition and to give some hints for air pollution control.  

Award  
Award Name Year
Best research award 2016
Journal Publication
Yugen Li, Hilda X. H. Huang, Stephen M.Griffith, Cheng Wu, Alexis K. H. Lau, Jian Zhen Yu (2017) Quantifying the relationship between visibility degradation and PM2.5 constituents at a suburban site in Hong Kong: Differentiating contributions from hydrophilic and hydrophobic organic compounds. Sci. Total Environ, 575, 1571-1581 (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.082).
Presentations/Talks
Title Date Length Type and Location
Quantifying the relationship between visibility degradation and PM2.5 constituents at a suburban site in Hong Kong: Differentiating contributions from hydrophilic and hydrophobic organic compounds 2017-04-28 30 min Poster presentation
Teaching Assistant
Semester Course Code Course Title Class Size
2016-17 Fall EVSM5220 Advanced Environmental Chemistry 44
2016-17 Spring ENVR2020 Urban air pollution 50
Outbound Activities
Period Country Institute/Company
2017-04-22 to 2017-04-29 Austria European Geosciences Union General Assembly
2017-05-06 to 2017-05-07 Hong Kong 24rd Symposium on Chemistry Postgraduate Research in Hong Kong. CityUHK
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