Biogenic hydrocarbon contribution to the ambient air of selected areas - Tulsa; Great Smoky Mountains; Rio Blanco County, Colorado. Research report
Estimates of volatile hydrocarbon emissions to the atmosphere indicate that biogenic sources are much greater on a global basis than anthropogenic sources. Many assumptions inherent in these estimates, however, introduce a large degree of uncertainty about both inventories. A critical review of the literature reveals nonmethane hydrocarbons in rural and remote areas consist mainly of anthropogenic species, and are composed of less than 10% biogenically-related compounds (i.e., monoterpenes and isoprene). Despite these results, some investigators continue to invoke 'natural hydrocarbon emissions' to explain naturally occurring haze, incorrectly identified gas chromatographic peaks, and high concentrations of total nonmethane hydrocarbons that are measured by indiscriminate (total hydrocarbon-methane) analyzers. In response to the suggestion that biogenic emissions are responsible for the high hydrocarbon concentrations described in several reports, the Environmental Sciences Research Laboratory of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiated short-term sampling as a means of validation. A limited number of whole-air samples were collected in Tedlar bags and analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. The areas of study included: Tulsa, Oklahoma; Rio Blanco County, Colorado; and the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Although the tests were of short duration, the results suggest monoterpenes and isoprene constitute minor components of rural air relative to anthropogenic hydrocarbons.
- Research Organization:
- Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (USA). Environmental Sciences Research Lab.
- OSTI ID:
- 6810257
- Report Number(s):
- PB-80-139066
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
HYDROCARBONS
POLLUTION SOURCES
AIR POLLUTION
COLORADO
MOUNTAINS
OKLAHOMA
QUANTITY RATIO
REVIEWS
RURAL AREAS
SAMPLING
TENNESSEE
URBAN AREAS
DOCUMENT TYPES
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
SOUTHEAST REGION
SOUTHWEST REGION
USA
500200* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)