Contribution of Biomass Burning to Atmospheric Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons at Three European Background Sites

Abstract

Radiocarbon analysis of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from three background areas in Sweden, Croatia, and Greece was performed to apportion their origin between fossil and biomass combustion. Diagnostic ratios of PAHs implied that wood and coal combustion was relatively more important in the northern European site, while combustion of fossil fuels was the dominant source of PAHs to the two central-southern European background sites. The radiocarbon content (delta14C) of atmospheric PAHs in Sweden ranged between -388 per thousand and -381 per thousand, while more depleted values were observed for Greece (-914 per thousand) and Croatia (-888 per thousand). Using a 14C isotopic mass balance model it was calculated that biomass burning contributes nearly 10% of the total PAH burden in the studied southern European atmosphere with fossil fuel combustion making up the 90% balance. In contrast, biomass burning contributes about 50% of total PAHs in the atmosphere at the Swedish site. Our results suggest that the relative contributions of biomass burning and fossil fuels to atmospheric PAHs may differ considerably between countries, and therefore, different national control strategies might be needed if a further reduction of these pollutants is to be achieved on a continental-global scale.

Gas–Particle Distribution of PAHs in Wood Combustion Emission Determined with Annular Denuders, Filter, and Polyurethane Foam Adsorbent

“…In two southern European background sites, the contribution was lower, about 10% (Mandalakis et al 2005).…”

Black (pyrogenic) carbon: a synthesis of current knowledge and uncertainties with special consideration of boreal regions

“…The natural background of PAH deposition from wildfires is preserved in sediments, which also record the recent increases from fossil fuel combustion, industrial pulping and direct contamination with oil and coal (Yunker and Macdonald, 2003). In urban areas, atmospheric PAHs originate largely from fossil fuel combustion, but extensive use of wood for home heating was responsible for half the atmospheric PAHs at a semirural forested Swedish site (Mandalakis et al, 2005). PAHs can be transported long distances, especially the lighter ones (Bucheli et al, 2004), and they are deposited in Arctic regions far from their sources (Yunker et al, 2002;Hung et al, 2005).…”

High-Precision GC-MS Analysis of Atmospheric Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Isomer Ratios from Biomass Burning Emissions

“…The analyses of organic compounds by the conventional extraction techniques such as Soxhlet extraction and ultrasonication [14,19,20], though provide their quantitative recovery, require large volume of solvents (>100 mL) and are often labour intensive. In spite of this, the Soxhlet extraction technique has been successfully used for the extraction of PAHs from standard reference materials (SRM-National Institute of Standards and Tech-Isomer Ratios from Biomass Burning Emissions nology) [14,18].…”