Emission of pm_2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from biomass and coal combustion in China

Field measured PAH emissions from diverse sources in China are limited or even not available. In this study, the PM_2.5-bound PAH emission factors (EFs) for typical biomass and coal combustion in China were determined on-site. The measured total PAH EFs were 24.5 mg/kg for household coal burning, 10.5–13.9 mg/kg for household biofuel burning, 8.1–8.6 mg/kg for biomass open burning, and 0.021–0.31 mg/kg for coal-fired boilers, respectively. These EF values were compared with previous studies. The sources profiles of PAHs for four sources were developed to use in chemical mass balance receptor modelling. BaP equivalent EFs (EF_BaPeq) were calculated to evaluate PAH emission toxicity among different combustion sources, and were 6.81, 2.94–4.22, 1.59–3.62, and 0.0006–0.042 mg/kg for those four types of sources, respectively.