Formaldehyde in Rainwater in Sakai City, Japan: Continuous Observation, Concentration, and Aqueous Photoproduction

Formaldehyde in Rainwater in Sakai City, Japan: Continuous Observation, Concentration, and Aqueous Photoproduction

2020

Formaldehyde (HCHO) is an important component in tropospheric chemistry, but the study of HCHO in rainwater is limited. This is the first report of continuous measurement of HCHO in rainwater. HCHO in rainwater was continuously measured using a modified chemiluminescence method at Sakai City, Osaka, Japan. The continuous measurement was conducted in the 2018 rainy season (Baiu) of Japan. A total of 20 rain events have been observed, and the averaged HCHO concentration of each rain event was 0.13–2.75 μM. The maximum concentration was 9.91 μM. Diurnal variation of HCHO in rainwater showed the distinctively high concentration in nighttime and no correlation with local ambient gaseous HCHO, implying another source such as aqueous photoproduction and transportation rather than scavenging. The photo-irradiation experiment revealed that photoproduction of HCHO is one of the important sources of HCHO in rainwater with the maximum production rate of 2.43 μM h⁻¹. Besides, the backward trajectory indicated that there could have a link with the air mass original location. Furthermore, microorganism activity can play a role as a sink of HCHO in rainwater that could consume HCHO with digestion rate up to 3.2 μM h⁻¹.

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