« Previous Abstract[Inventory and Characteristics of Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOCs) for 12 Deciduous Fruit Trees]    Next Abstract"Effects of short-term exposure to volatile pesticide dichlorvos on the olfactory systems in Spodoptera litura: Calcium homeostasis, synaptic plasticity and apoptosis" »

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Title:		"Differences between measured and reported volatile organic compound emissions from oil sands facilities in Alberta, Canada"
Author(s):		Li SM; Leithead A; Moussa SG; Liggio J; Moran MD; Wang D; Hayden K; Darlington A; Gordon M; Staebler R; Makar PA; Stroud CA; McLaren R; Liu PSK; O'Brien J; Mittermeier RL; Zhang J; Marson G; Cober SG; Wolde M; Wentzell JJB;
Address:		"Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada M3H 5T4; shao-meng.li@canada.ca. Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada M3H 5T4. Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0H3. Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada M3J 1P3. Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada M3J 1P3. Flight Research Laboratory, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0R6"
Journal Title:		Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Year:		2017
Volume:		20170424
Issue:		19
Page Number:		E3756 - E3765
DOI:		10.1073/pnas.1617862114
ISSN/ISBN:		1091-6490 (Electronic) 0027-8424 (Print) 0027-8424 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Large-scale oil production from oil sands deposits in Alberta, Canada has raised concerns about environmental impacts, such as the magnitude of air pollution emissions. This paper reports compound emission rates (E) for 69-89 nonbiogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for each of four surface mining facilities, determined with a top-down approach using aircraft measurements in the summer of 2013. The aggregate emission rate (aE) of the nonbiogenic VOCs ranged from 50 +/- 14 to 70 +/- 22 t/d depending on the facility. In comparison, equivalent VOC emission rates reported to the Canadian National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) using accepted estimation methods were lower than the aE values by factors of 2.0 +/- 0.6, 3.1 +/- 1.1, 4.5 +/- 1.5, and 4.1 +/- 1.6 for the four facilities, indicating underestimation in the reported VOC emissions. For 11 of the combined 93 VOC species reported by all four facilities, the reported emission rate and E were similar; but for the other 82 species, the reported emission rate was lower than E The median ratio of E to that reported for all species by a facility ranged from 4.5 to 375 depending on the facility. Moreover, between 9 and 53 VOCs, for which there are existing reporting requirements to the NPRI, were not included in the facility emission reports. The comparisons between the emission reports and measurement-based emission rates indicate that improvements to VOC emission estimation methods would enhance the accuracy and completeness of emission estimates and their applicability to environmental impact assessments of oil sands developments"
Keywords:		Alberta *Mining *Petroleum Volatile Organic Compounds/*analysis aircraft measurements emission inventory validation emissions oil sands volatile organic compounds;
Notes:		"MedlineLi, Shao-Meng Leithead, Amy Moussa, Samar G Liggio, John Moran, Michael D Wang, Daniel Hayden, Katherine Darlington, Andrea Gordon, Mark Staebler, Ralf Makar, Paul A Stroud, Craig A McLaren, Robert Liu, Peter S K O'Brien, Jason Mittermeier, Richard L Zhang, Junhua Marson, George Cober, Stewart G Wolde, Mengistu Wentzell, Jeremy J B eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2017/04/26 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 May 9; 114(19):E3756-E3765. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1617862114. Epub 2017 Apr 24"