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Impacts of volatile chemical products (VCPs) on PM2.5 and O3 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. Impacts of volatile chemical products (VCPs) on PM2.5 and O3 in an urban atmosphere. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, December 09 - 13, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Volatile chemical products (VCPs), including cleaning agents, personal care products, and coatings evaporate and react in the atmosphere, producing criteria pollutants with negative health outcomes. Here, we show the human health effects associated with VCPs are likely underestimated by air quality models due to low solvent usage in U.S. inventories and the lack of effective PM2.5 formation in chemical mechanisms. Results also inform near-field modeling and the role of inhalation vs dermal and ingestion as routes to exposure.
Description:
Volatile chemical products (VCPs), including cleaning agents, personal care products, and coatings result in the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to the ambient atmosphere, producing ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) with negative health outcomes. Here we show the human health effects associated with VCPs are likely underestimated by air quality models due to low solvent usage in U.S. inventories and the lack of effective SOA formation in chemical mechanisms. A factor of ~3× higher emissions from VCPs results in better agreement with emissions predicted by the Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation Model (SHEDS) developed for high-throughput (HT) assessment of near-field exposure. This emissions update coupled with ~1.4-2.9× higher SOA yields (i.e., ~5-10% by mass per organic gas emission) significantly reduces regional model discrepancies with in-situ measurements of SOA, ozone, and OH reactivity in Pasadena, California, compared to a current regulatory model (Community Multiscale Air Quality Model; CMAQv5.3). VCPs are estimated to be responsible for ~41% of prompt photochemical SOA (1.1 ± 0.3 μg m-3) and ~17% of maximum daily 8-hr average (MDA8) O3 (9 ±2 ppb) in summer Los Angeles, making them important for criteria pollutant formation.