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The estimated impacts of volatile chemical products on particulate matter and ozone criteria pollutants in an urban atmosphere
Citation:
Qin, M., B. Murphy, B. McDonald, S. McKeen, L. Koval, K. Isaacs, Q. Lu, A. Robinson, M. Strum, J. Snyder, C. Efstathiou, C. Allen, AND H. Pye. The estimated impacts of volatile chemical products on particulate matter and ozone criteria pollutants in an urban atmosphere. 2019 CMAS Conference, Chapel Hill, NORTH CAROLINA, October 21 - 23, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contribute to ozone and PM2.5 formation, criteria pollutants with known negative health impacts. This work shows that VOCs from consumer products, including household cleaning, personal care, and paints, lead to ozone and PM2.5 in the ambient atmosphere.
Description:
Volatile chemical product (VCP) usage, including application of personal care products, paints, and adhesives, results in the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to the ambient atmosphere. These VOCs oxidize and contribute to ozone and PM2.5 formation and are expected to be an increasing fraction of urban VOCs as combustion emissions are controlled. We find that CMAQ v5.3 with emissions based on the National Emission Inventory (NEI) underestimates daily-average PM2.5 and daily maximum 8-hour averaged (MDA8) ozone by 0.9 μg m-3 and 6 ppb respectively for Los Angeles summer 2010 conditions. A factor of 3 higher VCP emissions than currently represented in the NEI is supported by recent literature and new simulations with the Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation Model (SHEDS) developed for high-throughput (HT) assessment of near-field exposure. These higher magnitude emissions drive higher ozone formation predictions. In addition, we find a factor of 1.4-2.9 times higher secondary organic aerosol (SOA) yields from VCPs compared to current CMAQv5.3 values are needed to reconcile observed and modeled SOA in Los Angeles. In this work, we estimate VCP usage accounts for ~41% of prompt photochemical SOA and ~17% of MDA8 O3 in observations from Los Angeles, making them important precursors to criteria pollutant formation.