To Guide Exploration
Table 1: Wood Smoke Emissions (as pdf) lists some of the known wood smoke chemicals, with a key for the physical state they are in. The major first portion of the list is from one published study (Larson, 1993), the weight of each of these pollutants per kilogram of wood burned is given. Other species found in other studies are listed as "Additional Wood Smoke Emissions" at the end of Table 1, and are included here for the big picture. Scientists know that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of compounds, and the compounds are rapidly mixing and changing in the smoke itself. A new paper "Chemical Characterization of Fine Particle Emissions from Fireplace Combustion of Wood Grown in the Northeastern United States" (Fine, 2001) lists several hundred more chemicals. We are not including them in our list but provide the reference for those interested in further research. There is a list of references following Wood Smoke Tables 1 to 4. There is also a sample equation to show how you can take information from Table 1 to find out more about the quantities of each pollutant produced.
Tables 2-5, bring information to help look at smoke pollution
in novel ways. We are going to encounter disease processes that
are already known about tobacco and diesel emissions. These tables
are meant to start discussion and spark curiosity.
Table 2: Wood Smoke Comparisons With Other Toxic Sources, (as pdf) tells us how smokes are similar and different. It tells us that we already know many of the health effects of wood smoke even if we don't recognize it as such.
Table 3: Wood Smoke Pollutant Health Effects (as pdf)looks at current known health effects of each known toxic pollutant in wood smoke. Keep in mind that "the dose is the poison". What may be unnoticed by an adult in the short term may be a dose that is very damaging to a new or unborn baby. What is unnoticed in one individual may damage many other people.
Also see references for tables.
- Table 1:Wood Smoke Emissions ( as pdf size13KB)
- Table 2: Wood Smoke Emissions Comparisons With Other Toxic Sources (as pdf)
- Table 3: Wood Smoke Pollutant Health Effects and (as pdf)
- Table 4: Wood Smoke Pollutants Cited as Toxic In U.S. Law (as pdf)
- References for Wood Smoke Tables 1-4 (as pdf)
- Comparisons Handout of Wood Smoke and Tobacco Smoke Chemicals (as pdf)
- Larson and Konig Table 2 published in Annual Review of Public Health "Summary of measured wood burning effects on airborne particle concentrations" and as (72KB PDF
Chemicals listed here are only the tip of the iceberg - combustion variables lead to hundreds if not thousands of chemical combinations. Some are sweet smelling vanilla and others are known to be the most toxic chemicals on earth. Wood also carries mold spores, some are able to be cultured from wood ash. (molds are listed at the bottom of the Table)
Cyanide contaminates water from biomass burning: Chemosphere, 2003.
Wood Burning Creates Dioxin, Releases Radioactive Particles and Stored Lead.
Lead: produced from burning 2.2 pounds of wood = 0.1mg to 3 mg.
Dioxin"Burning 1 kilogram of wood produced as much as 160 micrograms of total dioxins. This result was obtained when various specimens of wood were burned in different stoves. Soot was collected and analyzed by well-designed and documented procedures. Tetrachlorinated, hexachlorinated, heptachlorinated, octachlorinated dioxins were present. The isomers of the dioxins were separated and quantitated. The highly chlorinated dioxins were the major components. In the soot from a series of experiments, their total content ranged from 10 to 167 mg/kg of fuel. The total yields of tetrachlorinated dioxins (TCDDs) ranged from 0.1 to 7.8 mg/kg of fuel."
[Science, Vol. 266 Oct. 21, 1994,T.J. Nestrick and L.L. Lamparski, Anal. Chem. 54, 2292 (1982)].
Radioactivity
"With the exception of some very low California readings, all measurements of wood ash with fallout-cesium exceeded - some by 100 times or more - the levels of radioactive cesium that may be released from nuclear plants (about 100 picocuries per kilogram of sludge). Wood ash-cesium levels were especially high in the Northeast" [Science News, 1991]
Chemical Composition of Wood Smoke
Species g/kg wood Carbon Monoxide 80-370 Methane 14-25 VOCs (C2-C7) 7-27 Aldehydes 0.6-5.4 Formaldehyde 0.1-0.7 Acrolein 0.02-0.1 Propionaldehyde 0.1-0.3 Butryaldehyde 0.01-1.7 Acetaldehyde 0.03-0.6 Furfural 0.2-1.6 1.6 Substituted Furans 0.15-1.7 Benzene 0.6-4.0 Alkyl Benzenes 1-6 Toluene 0.15-1.0 Acetic Acid 1.8-2.4 Formic Acid 0.06-0.08 Nitrogen Oxides (NO,NO2) 0.2-0.9 Sulfur Dioxide 0.16-0.24 Methyl chloride 0.01-0.04 Napthalene 0.24-1.6 Substituted Napthalenes 0.3-2.1 Oxygenated Monoaromatics 1 - 7 Guaiacol (and denvatives) 0.4-1.6 Phenol (and denvatives) 0.2-0.8 Syringol (and derivatives) 0.7-2.7 Catechol (and denvatives) 0.2-0.8 Total Particle Mass 7-30 Particulate Organic Carbon 2-20 Oxygenated PAHs 0.15-1 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) Fluorene 4x10-5 - 1.7x10-2 Phenanthrene 2x10-5 - 3.4x10-2 Anthracene 5x10-5 - 2.1x10-5 Methylanthracenes 7xl0-5 - 8x10-5 Fluoranthene 7xl0-4- 4.2xl0-2 Pyrene 8x10-4 - 3.1x10-2 Benzo(a)anthracene 4x10-4 - 2x10-3 Chrysene 5x104- 1x10-2 Benzofluoranthenes 6x10-4- 5x10-3 Benzo(e)pyrene 2x104 - 4x10-3 Benzo(a)pyrene 3x104- 5x10-3 Perylene 5x10-5 - 3x10-3 Ideno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene 2xl0-4- 1.3x10-2 Benz(ghi)perylene 3x10-5- 1.lx10-2 Coronene 8x10-4- 3x10-3 Dibenzo(a,h)pyrene 3x104- lx10-3 Retene 7x10-3 - 3x10-2 Dibenz(a,h)anthracene 2x10-5 - 2xl0-3 Trace Elements Na 3x10-3 - 1.8xl0-2 Mg 2x10-4 - 3x10-3 Al 1x10-4 - 2.4x10-2 Si 3x10-4 - 3.1x10-2 S 1x10-3 - 2.9x10-2 Cl 7x10-4 - 2.1xl0-2 K 3x10-3 - 8.6x10-2 Ca 9xl0-4 - 1.8x10-2 Ti 4x10-5 - 3x10-3 V 2xl0-5 - 4x10-3 Cr 2x10-5 - 3x10-3 Mn 7xl0-5 - 4x10-3 Fe 3x10-4 - 5x10-3 Ni lxl0-6 - lx10-3 Cu 2x10-4 - 9x10-4 Zn 7xl0-4 - 8x10-3 Br 7x10-5 - 9x10-4 Pb lx10-4 - 3x10-3 Particulate Elemental 0.3 - 5 Carbon Normal alkanes (C24-C30) 1x10-3 - 6x10-3 Cyclic di-and triterpenoids Dehydroabietic acid 0.01 - 0.05 Isopimaric acid 0.02 - 0.10 Lupenone 2x10-3 - 8x10-3 Friedelin 4x10-6 - 2x10-5 Chlorinated dioxins 1xl0-5 - 4x10-5 Particulate Acidity . 7x10-3 - 7x10-2
1 Some species are grouped into general classes as indicated by
italics.
2 To estimate the weight percentage in the exhaust, divide the
g/kg value by 80. This assumes that there are 7.3 kg combustion
air per kg of wood. Major species not listed here include carbon
dioxide and water vapor (about 12 and 7 weight percent respectively
under the assumed conditions.
3 At ambient conditions; V = vapor, P = particulate, and VIP =
vapor and/or particulate (i.e., semi-volatile).
4 DeAngelis (1980)
5 OMNI (1988)
6 Lipari (1984), Values for fireplaces.
7 Edye et al (1991). smoldering conditions; other substituted
furans include 2-furanmethanol, 2 acetylfuran, 5 methyl-2furaldehyde,
and benzofuran.
8 Value estimated for pine from Edye et al (1991) from reported
yield relative to guaiacol, from guaiacol values of Hawthorne
(1989) and assuming particulate organic carbon is 50% of total
particle mass.
9 Steiber et al (1992), values computed assuming a range of 3-20
g of total extractable, speciated mass per kg wood.
10 Khalil (1983)
11 Hawthorne (1989), values for syringol for hardwood fuel; see
also Hawthorne (1988).
12 Core (1989), DeAngelis (1980), Kalman and Larson (1987).
13 From one or more of the following studies: Cooke (1981), Truesdale
(1984), Alfheirn et al (1984), Zeedijk (1986), Core (1989), Kalman
and Larson (1987); assuming a range of 7 to 30 grams of particulate
mass per kg wood when values were reported in grams per gram of
particulate mass. Similar assumptions apply to references 14,15
and references 17-19.
14 Core (1989), Kalman and Larson (1987)
15 Watson (1979), Core (1989), Kalman and Larson (1987)
16 Rau (1989), Core (1989)
17 Core (1989)
18 Standley and Simoneit (1990); Dehydroabietic acid values for
pine smoke, lupenone and isopimaric acid values for alder smoke
and friedlin values for oaf: soot.
19 Nestrick and Lamparski (1982), from particulate condensed on
flue pipes; includes TCDDs, HCDDs, H7CDDs and OCDDS.
20 Burnet et al (1986); one gram of acid = one equivalent of acid
needed to reach a pH of 5.6 in extract solution.