Volatile organic compounds sources in Paris in spring 2007. Part II: source apportionment using positive matrix factorisation

Abstract

Environmental context Volatile organic compounds are key compounds in atmospheric chemistry as precursors of ozone and secondary organic aerosols. To determine their impact at a megacity scale, a first important step is to characterise their sources. We present an estimate of volatile organic compound sources in Paris based on a combination of measurements and model results. The data suggest that the current emission inventory strongly overestimates the volatile organic compounds emitted from solvent industries, and thus needs to be corrected. Abstract A positive matrix factorisation model has been used for the determination of volatile organic compound (VOC) source contributions in Paris during an intensive campaign (May–June 2007). The major sources were traffic-related emissions (vehicle exhaust, 22% of the total mixing ratio of the measured VOCs, and fuel evaporation, 17%), with the remaining emissions from remote industrial sources (35%), natural gas and background (13%), local sources (7%), biogenic and fuel evaporation (5%) and wood-burning (2%). It was noted that the remote industrial contribution was highly dependent on the air-mass origin. During the period of oceanic influences (when only local and regional pollution was observed), this source made a relatively low contribution (<15%), whereas the source contribution linked to traffic was high (54%). During the period of continental influences (when additional continental pollution was observed), remote industrial sources played a dominant role, contributing up to 50% of measured VOCs. Finally, the positive matrix factorisation results obtained during the oceanic air mass-influenced period were compared with the local emission inventory. This comparison suggests that the VOC emission from solvent industries might be overestimated in the inventory, consistent with findings in other European cities.

Monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from an oil and gas station in northwest China for 1 year

“…The increase in the morning was related to the low BLH. Different from other researches, no increasing trend of this source was found during 07:00-10:00 LT here, while the combustion source was reported to increase in the rush hour period (Gaimoz et al, 2011;Baudic et al, 2016). Conversely, the decreasing trends were found for independent combustion tracers (CO and NO 2 ) during this period (Fig.…”

One year monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from an oil-gas station in northwest China

“…The increase in the morning was related to the low BLH. Different from other researches, no increasing trend of this source was found during 07:00-10:00 LT in this study, while combustion source was reported to be increasing at the rush-hour period (Gaimoz et al, 2011;Baudic et al, 2016). On the contrary, decreasing trends were found for independent combustion tracers (CO and NO2) during this period (Fig.…”

The levels, variation characteristics, and sources of atmospheric non-methane hydrocarbon compounds during wintertime in Beijing, China

“…Biogenic sources are mainly from emissions of vegetation and anthropogenic sources are related to fossil fuel combustion (vehicle exhaust, heat generation, and industrial processes), storage and distribution of fuels (gasoline, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas, LPG), and solvent use. Because the global emissions and the reaction activity of biogenic NMHCs are much greater than those of anthropogenic NMHCs (Goldstein and Galbally, 2007), atmospheric biogenic NMHCs (e.g., isoprene) are more important in the global atmospheric environment. In urban areas, however, anthropogenic NMHCs greatly exceed biogenic NMHCs and have been considered as one of the most dominant drivers of air pollution (Srivastava et al, 2005;Gaimoz et al, 2011;Waked et al, 2012).…”

“…Because the global emissions and the reaction activity of biogenic NMHCs are much greater than those of anthropogenic NMHCs (Goldstein and Galbally, 2007), atmospheric biogenic NMHCs (e.g., isoprene) are more important in the global atmospheric environment. In urban areas, however, anthropogenic NMHCs greatly exceed biogenic NMHCs and have been considered as one of the most dominant drivers of air pollution (Srivastava et al, 2005;Gaimoz et al, 2011;Waked et al, 2012). In addition, some anthropogenic NMHCs (e.g., benzene and 1,3-butadiene) have been verified to be toxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic (US EPA, 2008;Møller et al, 2008).…”

“…In addition, some anthropogenic NMHCs (e.g., benzene and 1,3-butadiene) have been verified to be toxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic (US EPA, 2008;Møller et al, 2008). Due to the negative impact of NMHCs on the atmospheric environment as well as human health, atmospheric NMHC measurements have been conducted worldwide in many urban areas (Shirai et al, 2007;Gaimoz et al, 2011;Waked et al, 2016), and the results revealed that NMHCs made a remarkable contribution to atmospheric O 3 and SOA in most cities and the cancer risk of benzene even exceeded the value of 1.0 × 10 −6 in some cities (Zhou et al, 2011;Du et al, 2014).…”