Featured for December - January:

Journal of Aerosol Science ISSN : 0021-8502 Volume : 33 Issue : 2 Date : Feb-2002

Bibliography of abstracts from this issue. Chemical characterization of fine particle emissions from fireplace combustion of woods grown in the northeastern United States.Fine PM, Cass GR, Simoneit BR. Environmental Engineering Science Department, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125,
USA. 1: Environ Sci Technol 2001 Jul 1;35(13):2665-75

A series of source tests was conducted to determine the chemical composition of fine particle emissions from the fireplace combustion of six species of woods grown in the northeastern United States: red maple, northern red oak, paper birch, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, and balsam fir. Results include fine particle emission rates for total mass, organic and elemental carbon, ionic species, elemental species including potassium, and over 250 specific organic compounds. The data are intended for use in source-apportionment studies that utilize particulate organic compounds as source-specific tracers. The cellulose pyrolysis product levoglucosan was quantified in each of the wood smokes studied and is thus a good candidate as a molecular tracer for wood combustion in general. Differences in emission rates of specific substituted phenols and resin acids can be used to distinguish between the smoke produced when burning hardwoods versus softwoods. Certain organic compounds, such as betulin from paper birch combustion and juvabione and dehydrojuvabione from balsam fir combustion, are unique to those species and can potentially be utilized to trace particulate emissions back to a specific geographical region where those individual tree species are used for firewood.

PMID: 11452590 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Indonesian Fires - ScienceDirect - Atmospheric Environment: Source identification of Malaysian atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons nearby forest fires using molecular and isotopic compositions (click on abstract.)

T. Okuda, H. Kumata, M.P. Zakaria, H. Naraoka, R. Ishiwatari, H.
Takada
pp 611-618
Full text via ScienceDirect :

ScienceDirect - Environmental Pollution: Impact of wildfires on the air quality of Mexico City, 1992ø1999 - (click to go to Copyright © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/S0269-7491(01)00277-9
PII: S0269-7491(01)00277-9
Copyright © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of wildfires on the air quality of Mexico City, 1992-1999

A. H. Bravo, , E. R. Sosa, A. P. Sánchez, P. M. Jaimes and R. M. I. Saavedra
Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Sección de Contaminación Ambiental, U.N.A.M., Circuito exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, México, D.F., 04510, Mexico

Received 31 July 2001; accepted 13 August 2001. Available online 22 October 2001.

Abstract

Wildfires in Mexico increased in 1998, compared to information for the last 6 years. The average number of wildfires in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) for this year (1998) were 58% (1916 events) more events than the 19921997 (average cases 1217 events). Mexico City affected area corresponds to 1.3% of the national affected area. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact on the particles air quality due to the wildfire emissions at the MCMA and surrounding areas. Using the corresponding US EPA emission factors for wildfires, the tons of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and total hydrocarbons emitted by this source for the MCMA case were obtained. The calculated emissions during wildfires were correlated with the levels of particles present in the atmosphere. A comparison of the concentration levels of particles, both as PM10 as well as TSP, were made for the years 19921998, during wet and dry season, being March, April, and May the critical months due to the presence of wildfires. A good correlation is observed between particulate wildfire emissions and particulate air quality, being stronger for TSP. A clear impact on the particles air quality due to the increase of wildfires in 1998, is observed when this year is compared with 1997, presenting an increment of 200-300% for some monitoring stations.

Wildfires contributed to the particulate load in the Mexico City Metropolitan area in 1998.

Author Keywords: Wildfires; Mexico City; Particulate matter; Air quality; Smoke

Corresponding author. Tel.: +525616-0701; fax: +52-5622-4052; email: hbravo@servidor.unam.mx

Environmental Pollution
Volume 117, Issue 2
April 2002
Pages 243-253

Software and compilation © 2002 ScienceDirect. All rights reserved.
ScienceDirect® is an Elsevier Science B.V. registered trademark.