Volatile chemical
products (VCPs) have recently been identified
as potentially important unconventional sources of secondary organic
aerosol (SOA), in part due to the mitigation of conventional emissions
such as vehicle exhaust. Here, we report measurements of SOA production
in an oxidation flow reactor from a series of common VCPs containing
oxygenated functional groups and at least one oxygen within the molecular
backbone. These include two oxygenated aromatic species (phenoxyethanol
and 1-phenoxy-2-propanol), two esters (butyl butyrate and butyl acetate),
and four glycol ethers (carbitol, methyl carbitol, butyl carbitol,
and hexyl carbitol). We measured gas- and particle-phase products
with a suite of mass spectrometers and particle-sizing instruments.
Only the aromatic VCPs produce SOA with substantial yields. For the
acyclic VCPs, ether and ester functionality promotes fragmentation
and hinders autoxidation, whereas aromatic rings drive SOA formation
in spite of the presence of ether groups. Therefore, our results suggest
that a potential strategy to reduce urban SOA from VCPs would be to
reformulate consumer products to include less oxygenated aromatic
compounds.
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