Citation:

Seltzer, K., B. Murphy, E. Pennington, C. Allen, K. Talgo, AND H. Pye. Volatile Chemical Product Enhancements to Criteria Pollutants in the United States. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 56(11):6905–6913, (2022). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c04298

Impact/Purpose:

Volatile chemical product (VCP) usage currently results in ~3.1 Tg of reactive organic carbon emissions to air in the United States. In Southern California and New York City, 15 – 30% and as much as 36% of the modeled, population-weighted annual average secondary organic aerosol is due to VCP emissions. Annually, VCP emissions enhance total population-weighted PM2.5 by up to 10% and generally ~5% in California, ~3% in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and 1 – 2% in most other states makings VCPs an important contributor to ambient PM2.5.

Description:

Volatile chemical products (VCPs) are a significant source of reactive organic carbon emissions in the United States with a substantial fraction (>20% by mass) serving as secondary organic aerosol (SOA) precursors. Here, we incorporate a new nationwide VCP inventory into the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model with VCP-specific updates to better model air quality impacts. Model results indicate that VCPs mostly enhance anthropogenic SOA in densely populated areas with population-weighted annual average SOA increasing 15–30% in Southern California and New York City due to VCP emissions (contribution of 0.2–0.5 μg m–3). Annually, VCP emissions enhance total population-weighted PM2.5 by ∼5% in California, ∼3% in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and 1–2% in most other states. While the maximum daily 8 h ozone enhancements from VCP emissions are more modest, their influence can cause a several ppb increase on select days in major cities. Printing Inks, Cleaning Products, and Paints and Coatings product use categories contribute ∼75% to the modeled VCP-derived SOA and Cleaning Products, Paints and Coatings, and Personal Care Products contribute ∼81% to the modeled VCP-derived ozone. Overall, VCPs enhance multiple criteria pollutants throughout the United States with the largest impacts in urban cores.

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