What is the origin of the volatile hydrocarbons, other than methane, present in city air?

Mainly gasoline-powered vehicles[1], according to a study carried out by a French-US team[2] including French researchers from the Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA/IPSL[3], CNRS / UPEC / Université Paris Diderot) and the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE/IPSL, CNRS / CEA / Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines).

The study also shows that the proportion of gaseous aromatic compounds[4] in hydrocarbon emissions is two to three times greater in pollution plumes in Paris than in Los Angeles, even though the total quantity of hydrocarbons emitted in Los Angeles remains considerably greater than in Paris.

continue reading Pollution plumes in Paris air are richer in gaseous aromatic compounds than in Los Angeles.