Emission of PM2.5-Bound Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Biomass and Coal Combustion in China

Xinghua Li,Zihao Wang,Tailun Guo

doi:10.3390/atmos12091129

Abstract

Field measured PAH emissions from diverse sources in China are limited or even not available. In this study, the PM2.5-bound PAH emission factors (EFs) for typical biomass and coal combustion in China were determined on-site. The measured total PAH EFs were 24.5 mg/kg for household coal burning, 10.5–13.9 mg/kg for household biofuel burning, 8.1–8.6 mg/kg for biomass open burning, and 0.021–0.31 mg/kg for coal-fired boilers, respectively. These EF values were compared with previous studies. The sources profiles of PAHs for four sources were developed to use in chemical mass balance receptor modelling. BaP equivalent EFs (EFBaPeq) were calculated to evaluate PAH emission toxicity among different combustion sources, and were 6.81, 2.94–4.22, 1.59–3.62, and 0.0006–0.042 mg/kg for those four types of sources, respectively.

Highlights

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), a group of environmental organic pollutants, have received great concern due to their widespread occurrence and adverse ecological and health impact [1,2,3,4]
The information of PAH emission factors (EFs) measured on site from other sources are limited or even not available [19,20,21]
An EF is a representative value that relates the quantity of an air pollutant released to the atmosphere within a specific activity, which is important in estimating air pollutant emissions from various sources [22]

Summary

Introduction

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), a group of environmental organic pollutants, have received great concern due to their widespread occurrence and adverse ecological and health impact [1,2,3,4]. Emissions of PAH vary with combustion sources [1,2]. China had the largest emissions of PAHs around the world and contributed 21 percent of total global emissions in 2007, with the largest source of contributions being household solid fuel combustion [6,7,8]. A few measurements have been conducted to measure PAH emission factors (EFs) for household biomass and coal combustion in the laboratory or in the field [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18]. The information of PAH EFs measured on site from other sources are limited or even not available [19,20,21]. The limited available data on PAH EFs for diverse emission sources in China are the dominant contributor to the uncertainty in the PAH emission inventories [6,7]

Methods

Results

Conclusion