Biomass
burning is a dominant source of ultrafine particulate matter
in the atmosphere. Particulate matter is a leading health risk factor
on a global scale, causing millions of premature deaths annually.
Biomass burning also emits short-term climate forcers which contribute
to the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere. Wood and animal dung
are widely employed in the developing world as the primary sources
of household energy. While wood burning is well studied, emissions
from dung remain largely uncharacterized. Emissions from a given burn
are highly complex chemical mixtures. While specific biomass tracerssuch
as levoglucosanare employed to track burns, a fundamental
chemical understanding of biomass emissions is required to predict
their impacts. Herein, we conducted comprehensive sets of chemical
analyses for particles emitted from biomass burning. Samples were
generated using a tube furnace allowing reproducible, precise control
of conditions. Emission factor data for levoglucosan and its isomers
were measured from extracted particulate matter. We found that the
levoglucosan emission factors from two distinct types of cow dung
were consistently lower than that from wood. The water-extractable
fraction of dung emissions exhibited light-absorptive properties greater
than wood. Nontargeted chemical characterization was achieved through
deconvolution of high-resolution mass spectrometry data. Overall,
we present that the key differences between wood and dung emissions
mirror the differences in their fuel compositions. The complexity
of the extracted spectra and the unique characteristics of dung emissions
accentuate the need for further study on biomass types less common
within the Western context.
Exposure to air pollutants can cause serious adverse effects on human health; thus, indoor air quality (IAQ) is an important health and safety concern for occupants. A significant fraction of...
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