Predictions of Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from Consumer Products

HUAWEI LI, Qi Li, David R. Cocker III, University of California, Riverside

     Abstract Number: 142
     Working Group: Aerosol Chemistry

Abstract
The efforts of regulatory agencies to improve air quality by reducing traditional sources of emissions, including traffic and industrial emissions, have led to large improvements in air quality. However, the remaining challenge of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) is still non-negligible. Recent studies have shown volatile chemical products (VCPs) emerging as the largest petrochemical source of urban organic emissions, particularly in the Los Angeles area, where VCPs usage accounts for only 4% of all petrochemical products but contributes more than half of the urban volatile organic compound emissions. Therefore, it is urgent to systematically study the SOA formation of VCPs and their chemical ingredients.

This study characterized SOA formation from VCPs (e.g., personal care products and household products) and SOA precursors that are emitted from the selected VCPs. The objective precursors were selected based on their chemical ingredient and potential importance to SOA formation. The SOA formation from both the VCP and the individual ingredients were investigated and the total SOA formation of the ingredients compared to that of the VCP itself. Experimental results indicate that both the hair shampoo mixture and selected single chemical ingredients produce notable amounts of SOA. It was observed that the chemical processing of the ingredients to form the product strongly influenced the SOA formation of VCPs compared to its ingredients. Therefore, it is important to further investigate the formation of secondary aerosols from personal care products and household products to better understand their impact on air quality. The resulting datasets will be used to evaluate and improve the understanding of SOA formation from VCPs that are used in regulatory applications.