Measurement of Emissions from Air Pollution Sources. 3. C₁−C₂₉ Organic Compounds from Fireplace Combustion of Wood

Abstract

Organic compound emission rates for volatile organic compounds (VOC), gas-phase semivolatile organic compounds, and particle-phase organic compounds are measured from residential fireplace combustion of wood. Firewood from a conifer tree (pine) and from two deciduous trees (oak and eucalyptus) is burned to determine organic compound emissions profiles for each wood type including the distribution of the alkanes, alkenes, aromatics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), phenol and substituted phenols, guaiacol and substituted guaiacol, syringol and substituted syringols, carbonyls, alkanoic acids, resin acids, and levoglucosan. Levoglucosan is the major constituent in the fine particulate emissions from all three wood types, contributing 18-30% of the fine particulate organic compound emissions. Guaiacol (2-methoxyphenol), and guaiacols with additional substituents at position 4 on the molecule, and resin acids are emitted in significant quantities from pine wood combustion. Syringol (2,6-dimethoxyphenol) and syringols with additional substituents at position 4 on the molecule are emitted in large amounts from oak and eucalyptus firewood combustion, but these compounds are not detected in the emissions from pine wood combustion. Syringol and most of the substituted syringols are found to be semivolatile compounds that are present in both the gas and particle phases, but two substituted syringols that have not been previously quantified in wood smoke emissions, propionylsyringol and butyrylsyringol, are found exclusively in the particle phase and can be used to help trace hardwood smoke particles in the atmosphere. Benzene, ethene, and acetylene are often used as tracers for motor vehicle exhaust in the urban atmosphere. The contribution of wood smoke to the ambient concentrations of benzene, ethene, and acetylene could lead to an overestimate of the contribution of motor vehicle tailpipe exhaust to atmospheric VOC concentrations.

Biological monitoring of smoke exposure among wildland firefighters: A pilot study comparing urinary methoxyphenols with personal exposures to carbon monoxide, particular matter, and levoglucosan

“…Many of the larger molecular weight compounds (e.g., syringaldehyde and coniferylaldehyde) were frequently not detected in the urine samples, either due to their low abundance in wood smoke (Schauer et al, 2001), or because they are likely to be extensively metabolized in vivo (Strand and Scheline, 1975). Other MPs were deemed unsuitable because their prevalence as food additives (vanillin and eugenol) is likely to confound their use as markers of inhaled wood smoke.…”

“…Other MPs were deemed unsuitable because their prevalence as food additives (vanillin and eugenol) is likely to confound their use as markers of inhaled wood smoke. In contrast, the lower molecular weight MPs (guaiacol, syringol, and their simple alkyl-substituted analogs) are relatively abundant in wood smoke (Hawthorne et al, 1989;Schauer et al, 2001), do not undergo extensive phase one metabolism (Miller et al, 1974;Ogata et al, 1995), and show potential utility as biomarkers of woodsmoke exposure. The lack of association between measured woodsmoke exposure and urinary syringols in our current study is in contrast to our earlier reports (Dills et al, 2006;Clark et al, 2007).…”

Identification, characterization of levoglucosan kinase, and cloning and expression of levoglucosan kinase cDNA from Aspergillus niger CBX-209 in Escherichia coli

“…LG Kinase is induced when A. niger CBX-209 is grown on levoglucosan, reflecting its function in the levoglucosan assimilation pathways of this fungus [21]. Levoglucosan is widely distributed in nature [1,2]. However, little is known about the microbial degradation of this compound [17,19] and only a very few enzymes involved in microbial levoglucosan degradation have been characterized [18,20], but no genes encoding for enzymes acting on levoglucosan have been studied so far.…”

“…One reason could be levoglucosan's scarcity in its natural form [1][2][3][4]. However, because of the serious problem of limitations of fossil fuel reserves, studies on the degradation of cellulose to be singular sugar such as glucose or levogluocsan have been given much attention, as glucose or levoglucosan derived from cellulose can be easily fermented into alcohol or other useful products.…”

“…However, this compound exists widely in nature and is generally derived from natural pyrolysis of woods. For example, Schauer et al [1] found that levoglucosan was the major constituent in the fine particulate emissions from residential fireplace combustion of wood, contributing 18-30% of the fine particulate organic compound emissions. Since fine particulate matter emitted during wood combustion was known to contribute a significant fraction of the total fine aerosol concentration in the atmosphere of both urban and rural areas [2], levoglucosan was selected to be a good candidate as a molecular tracer for wood combustion in source-apportionment studies [3].…”