Impacts of a large boreal wildfire on ground level atmospheric concentrations of PAHs, VOCs and ozone.

ABSTRACT: During May 2016 a very large boreal wildfire burned throughout the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) in central Canada, and in close proximity to an extensive air quality monitoring network. This study examines speciated 24-h integrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and volatile organic compound (VOC) measurements collected every sixth day at four and seven sites, respectively, from May to August 2016. The sum of PAHs (ΣPAH) was on average 17 times higher in fire-influenced samples (852 ng m^-3, n = 8), relative to non-fire influenced samples (50 ng m^-3, n = 64). Diagnostic PAH ratios in fire-influenced samples were indicative of a biomass burning source, whereas ratios in June to August samples showed additional influence from petrogenic and fossil fuel combus

SUBMITTER: Wentworth GR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5906807 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature