EN
Fine particles (PM₂.₅) and particulate matter (PM₁₀) monitoring data from 2015 to 2016 in 18 major cities in the Yangtze River Delta were analyzed to determine the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ pollution in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, China. The results showed that the cities with the most serious PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ pollution were mainly distributed along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province, while the lowest concentrations of PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ were measured in Zhoushan of Zhejiang Province. The PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ concentrations in 2016 were lower than those in 2015. In 2015 and 2016, the PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ concentrations were the highest in winter, followed by spring, and the concentrations were the lowest in summer. In 2015 and 2016 the average annual concentrations of PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ were lower than the ambient air quality standard of China (Grade II; PM₂.₅: 35 µg/g and PM₁₀: 70 µg/g) in Zhoushan only, but were higher than the particulate pollutant emission limits of the United States and the European Union. The ratios of PM₂.₅/PM₁₀ in the urban agglomeration were greater than 0.5, indicating that the pollution in the atmospheric particulate matter in the Yangtze River Delta was generally less than 2.5 μm.