Formation of Secondary Organic Aerosol from Paint Emissions
REINA BUENCONSEJO, Yuyang Peng, Ryan Ward, Benjamin Schulze, Jennifer Kaiser, Nga Lee Ng, John Seinfeld,
California Institute of Technology Abstract Number: 510
Working Group: Aerosol Sources and Constituents of Emerging Importance and Their Impacts across Spatial Scales
AbstractVolatile chemical products (VCPs) are an increasingly important apportionment of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. VCPs are also estimated to have a greater secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation potential than gasoline exhaust, gasoline fuel, and diesel exhaust. In particular, architectural coatings, inks, and adhesives are estimated to have an emission factor approximately two orders of magnitude greater than estimates for on-road gasoline emission factor. Therefore, it is important to characterize the effects of VCPs on atmospheric secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and its formation to better resolve discrepancies between SOA observations and models.
This work looks at water-based and oil-based paints. We aim to quantify SOA yields from these paints as well as characterize their VOC emissions as a function of time. We inject a variety of different paints into a 19 m
3 environmental smog chamber and oxidize via hydrogen peroxide precursor and ultraviolet lights centered around 350 nm. SOA yields are quantified via a custom-built scanning mobility particle sizer. Gas-phase compounds are detected using a CF
3O
- chemical ionization quadrupole mass spectrometer and a proton transfer time of flight mass spectrometer.
We find that oil-based paint is comprised of several VOCs known to form SOA, such as toluene and xylene. The water-based paint is comprised of smaller molecular weight VOCs such acetone, methanol, and propanol. Therefore, the oil-based paint produces roughly an order of magnitude greater SOA volume concentration. This work is relevant to urban environments like the Los Angeles Basin where vehicular emissions continue to decrease but where VCPs are continuing to play an important role in air quality and indoor air quality where paint may be used.