Secondary Organic Aerosols from Biomass Burning and Anthropogenic Precursors

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Aerosols".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 April 2022) | Viewed by 8660

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Guest Editor
Instrumental Analysis Section, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
Interests: ion mobility; ion mobility spectrometry; LC/MS; GC/MS; ICP-MS; VOC degradation; biomass burning; secondary organic aerosol; aerosol chemistry
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) accounts for a significant fraction of ambient organic aerosol. However, our knowledge about its impact on air quality, climate, and public health remains uncertain because of their complex formation mechanisms, chemical composition, and a wide variety of precursor compounds. While biogenic SOA is extensively studied in the past, little is known about SOA originating from biomass burning and anthropogenic precursors (BSOA and ASOA). In particular the BSOA needs to be better characterized for its precursors, atmospheric transformation processes, and chemical composition as large scale wildfires occur more frequently around the world.

Authors are invited to submit manuscripts that report the topics of field and laboratory characterization of biomass burning and anthropogenic SOA that include, but not limited to:

  • the determination of precursor compounds from field and laboratory experiments
  • the formation mechanisms of biomass burning and anthropogenic SOA
  • the transformation and aging of biomass burning and anthropogenic aerosol in the atmosphere
  • the chemical composition of biomass burning and anthropogenic SOA
  • impact of biomass burning and anthropogenic SOA on environment and human health
  • newly developed analytical methods for biomass burning and anthropogenic SOA characterization
  • laboratory inter-comparison of biomass burning and anthropogenic SOA marker compounds.

Dr. Yoshiteru Iinuma
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • SOA
  • biomass burning aerosol
  • anthropogenic aerosol
  • volatile organic compounds
  • aerosol composition
  • aging

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2124 KiB  
Article
Four- and Five-Carbon Dicarboxylic Acids Present in Secondary Organic Aerosol Produced from Anthropogenic and Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds
by Kei Sato, Fumikazu Ikemori, Sathiyamurthi Ramasamy, Akihiro Fushimi, Kimiyo Kumagai, Akihiro Iijima and Yu Morino
Atmosphere 2021, 12(12), 1703; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12121703 - 20 Dec 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2891
Abstract
To better understand precursors of dicarboxylic acids in ambient secondary organic aerosol (SOA), we studied C4–C9 dicarboxylic acids present in SOA formed from the oxidation of toluene, naphthalene, α-pinene, and isoprene. C4–C9 dicarboxylic acids present in SOA were analyzed by offline derivatization gas [...] Read more.
To better understand precursors of dicarboxylic acids in ambient secondary organic aerosol (SOA), we studied C4–C9 dicarboxylic acids present in SOA formed from the oxidation of toluene, naphthalene, α-pinene, and isoprene. C4–C9 dicarboxylic acids present in SOA were analyzed by offline derivatization gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. We revealed that C4 dicarboxylic acids including succinic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, malic acid, DL-tartaric acid, and meso-tartaric acid are produced by the photooxidation of toluene. Since meso-tartaric acid barely occurs in nature, it is a potential aerosol tracer of photochemical reaction products. In SOA particles from toluene, we also detected a compound and its isomer with similar mass spectra to methyltartaric acid standard; the compound and the isomer are tentatively identified as 2,3-dihydroxypentanedioic acid isomers. The ratio of detected C4–C5 dicarboxylic acids to total toluene SOA mass had no significant dependence on the initial VOC/NOx condition. Trace levels of maleic acid and fumaric acid were detected during the photooxidation of naphthalene. Malic acid was produced from the oxidation of α-pinene and isoprene. A trace amount of succinic acid was detected in the SOA produced from the oxidation of isoprene. Full article
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18 pages, 6140 KiB  
Article
Modeling Biomass Burning Organic Aerosol Atmospheric Evolution and Chemical Aging
by David Patoulias, Evangelos Kallitsis, Laura Posner and Spyros N. Pandis
Atmosphere 2021, 12(12), 1638; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12121638 - 08 Dec 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2101
Abstract
The changes in the concentration and composition of biomass-burning organic aerosol (OA) downwind of a major wildfire are simulated using the one-dimensional Lagrangian chemical transport model PMCAMx-Trj. A base case scenario is developed based on realistic fire-plume conditions and a series of sensitivity [...] Read more.
The changes in the concentration and composition of biomass-burning organic aerosol (OA) downwind of a major wildfire are simulated using the one-dimensional Lagrangian chemical transport model PMCAMx-Trj. A base case scenario is developed based on realistic fire-plume conditions and a series of sensitivity tests are performed to quantify the effects of different conditions and processes. Temperature, oxidant concentration and dilution rate all affect the evolution of biomass burning OA after its emission. The most important process though is the multi-stage oxidation of both the originally emitted organic vapors (volatile and intermediate volatility organic compounds) and those resulting from the evaporation of the OA as it is getting diluted. The emission rates of the intermediate volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) and their chemical fate have a large impact on the formed secondary OA within the plume. The assumption that these IVOCs undergo only functionalization leads to an overestimation of the produced SOA suggesting that fragmentation is also occurring. Assuming a fragmentation probability of 0.2 resulted in predictions that are more consistent with available observations. Dilution leads to OA evaporation and therefore reduction of the OA levels downwind of the fire. However, the evaporated material can return to the particulate phase later on after it gets oxidized and recondenses. The sensitivity of the OA levels and total mass balance on the dilution rate depends on the modeling assumptions. The high variability of OA mass enhancement observed in past field studies downwind of fires may be partially due to the variability of the dilution rates of the plumes. Full article
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12 pages, 2494 KiB  
Article
The Toxic Effect of Water-Soluble Particulate Pollutants from Biomass Burning on Alveolar Lung Cells
by Yuri Lima de Albuquerque, Emmanuelle Berger, Chunlin Li, Michal Pardo, Christian George, Yinon Rudich and Alain Géloën
Atmosphere 2021, 12(8), 1023; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12081023 - 10 Aug 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2788
Abstract
In 2018, 3.8 million premature deaths were attributed to exposure to biomass burning nanoparticles from wood combustion. The objective of this study was to investigate and compare the toxic effect of wood-combustion-related biomass burning nanoparticles from three different combustion stages (i.e., flaming, smoldering, [...] Read more.
In 2018, 3.8 million premature deaths were attributed to exposure to biomass burning nanoparticles from wood combustion. The objective of this study was to investigate and compare the toxic effect of wood-combustion-related biomass burning nanoparticles from three different combustion stages (i.e., flaming, smoldering, and pyrolysis) on alveolar lung cells, by studying cell proliferation, and structural and behavioral parameters. A549 lung epithelial cells were treated with 31, 62, 125, 250, and 500 µg/mL of water-soluble particulate pollutants from wood burning, and measured by means of real-time cell analysis, cell imaging, and phase imaging microscopy. At low concentrations (31 and 62 µg/mL), all three types of wood burning samples exhibited no toxicity. At 125 µg/mL, they caused decreased cell proliferation compared to the control. Exposure to higher concentrations (250 and 500 µg/mL) killed the cells. Cell physical parameters (area, optical volume, eccentricity, perimeter, and optical thickness) and behavioral parameters (migration, motility, and motility speed) did not change in response to exposure to wood burning materials up to a concentration of 125 µg/mL. Exposure to higher concentrations (250 and 500 µg/mL) changed cell perimeter, optical thickness for smoldering and flaming particles, and led to decreased migration, motility, and motility speed of cells. In conclusion, all three of the combustion water-soluble organic pollutants were identified as equally toxic by real-time cell analysis (RTCA) results. The parameters describing cell structure suggest that pyrolysis particles were slightly less toxic than others. Full article
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