Peat burning – An important source of pyridines in the earth atmosphere

Mass Spectrometry as a Crucial Analytical Basis for Omics Sciences

“…To increase the sensitivity and reliability of the identification of mixture components, two-dimensional gas chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry are actively used [ 126 ]. The use of a combination of these methods in the original work devoted to determining the sources of the appearance of substituted pyridines in the atmosphere made it possible to identify a set of peat combustion products [ 127 ]. Even larger informational content is achieved using complementary ionization methods: the soft method yields an exact empirical formula of an analyte, and electron ionization enables the determination of its structure.…”

Occurrence of Volatile and Semi-Volatile Organic Pollutants in the Russian Arctic Atmosphere: The International Siberian Shelf Study Expedition (ISSS-2020)

“…As noted in the Introduction, earlier pyridine was found in the snow sampled from the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in amounts of 0.100-1 µg/kg [22], in Moscow rain [38] and snow [39], and in cloud water in Central France [40]. Pyridine and its alkylated derivatives require more attention and can be considered a product of incomplete combustion (smoldering) of peat [11].…”

“…Natural processes can also play a significant role in changing the chemical composition of the atmosphere at high latitudes. These include the release of VOCs from melting permafrost and an increase in their biogenic emission from tundra ecosystems [7,8], transfer of biogenic compounds with aerosol particles [9], as well as the combustion of large volumes of biomass during forest and peat fires [10][11][12] due to an increase in average temperature and drying out of sub-Arctic peat bogs, accumulating a significant part of the world's biomass resources.…”

“…The studies of Arctic snow as a deposition matrix for airborne pollutants using high-resolution mass spectrometry have revealed hundreds of VOCs and SVOCs, many of which are potentially hazardous [21][22][23]. These include, for example, pyridine and its alkylated derivatives, arising mainly due to peat fires [11].…”

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the snow cover of the northern city agglomeration

“…Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are persistent hazardous organic compounds that enter the environment during incomplete combustion of biomass (including peat fires) and fossil fuels, food cooking, and the leakage of crude oil, mineral oils and bitumen during their industrial use and transportation 1 – 4 . For this reason, PAHs are typical contaminants of the atmosphere and soils of urban areas 5 – 11 .…”