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Lead (Pb) emissions from wildland fires
Citation:
Holder, A. AND V. Rao. Lead (Pb) emissions from wildland fires. Presented at International Emissions Inventory Conference, Dallas, TX, July 29 - August 02, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Lead is present in the environment at low concentrations and may be released into the atmosphere when the landscape is burned as part of a wildfire or prescribed fire. Previous estimates of lead emissions from fires are from several decades ago when lead concentrations in the environment were much greater due to the use of leaded gas. In this study we have measured lead emissions from fires and found a decrease in the quantity of lead emissions. This work will help provide more accurate estimates of lead emissions to the atmosphere for risk assessments.
Description:
Particulate matter (PM) from wildland fires is composed almost entirely of carbonaceous material; however, this PM may also contain many other trace elements at a minor fraction of total PM mass. Lead (Pb) is an EPA criteria pollutant that is present at very low concentrations in the environment. Some of the Pb in the soil and vegetation consumed during a fire may be emitted to the atmosphere. Because wildland fires are one of the largest sources of PM in the U.S., even trace amount of Pb in PM can lead to sizeable Pb emissions to the atmosphere. Most of the emission factors for Pb are from several decades ago when Pb was in the environment at greater levels due to the use of leaded gasoline. Additionally, improvements in analytical methods have resulted in the ability to accurately quantify lower Pb concentrations. Therefore, a series of laboratory and field burns were sampled to determine updated emission factors for Pb and other trace elements from fires. The initial results of these experiments will be summarized along with an assessment of the potential impact on the estimate of Pb from fires in the EPA National Emissions Inventory.