Articles | Volume 25, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10625-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10625-2025
Research article
 | 
17 Sep 2025
Research article |  | 17 Sep 2025

On the presence of high nitrite (NO2−) in coarse particles at Mt. Qomolangma

Zhongyi Zhang, Chunxiang Ye, Yichao Wu, Tao Zhou, Pengfei Chen, Shichang Kang, Chong Zhang, Zhuang Jiang, and Lei Geng

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Cited articles

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Bhattarai, H., Zhang, Y.-L., Pavuluri, C. M., Wan, X., Wu, G., Li, P., Cao, F., Zhang, W., Wang, Y., and Kang, S.: Nitrogen speciation and isotopic composition of aerosols collected at Himalayan forest (3326 m asl): seasonality, sources, and implications, Environ. Sci. Technol., 53, 12247–12256, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b03999, 2019. 
Bhattarai, H., Wu, G., Zheng, X., Zhu, H., Gao, S., Zhang, Y.-L., Widory, D., Ram, K., Chen, X., and Wan, X.: Wildfire-Derived Nitrogen Aerosols Threaten the Fragile Ecosystem in Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau, Environ. Sci. Technol., 57, 9243–9251, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c01541, 2023. 
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Short summary
This study reveals unexpectedly high levels of particulate nitrite at the Base Camp of Mt. Qomolangma, which overwhelmingly exists in coarse mode, and demonstrates that lofted surface soil and long-range transported pollutants contribute to the high levels of nitrite. The high particulate nitrite is likely to participate in atmospheric reactive nitrogen cycling through gas-particle partitioning or photolysis, leading to production of HONO, OH and NO and thereby influencing oxidation chemistry.
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