Ambient formaldehyde source attribution in Houston during TexAQS II and TRAMP

An online data repository known as the Air Research Information Infrastructure (ARII) was used to discriminate large industrial sources of formaldehyde (HCHO) from mobile and secondary formaldehyde sources in Houston. Analysis of continuous online measurements at one urban and two industrial sites obtained during the summer of 2006 enabled us to isolate and evaluate major source factors associated with formaldehyde. The contribution of industrial sources to total atmospheric formaldehyde at the urban Houston site is estimated to be 17%, compared to 23% for mobile sources, 36% secondary formation, and 24% biogenic sources. The potential industrial sources include flares from petrochemical plants and refineries in the Port of Houston. The relative contribution of industrial source factors to ambient HCHO at the urban site increased to about 66% on some mornings, coinciding with the HCHO peak concentration. Secondary formation of HCHO during the day and night resulted from reactions of industrial olefins and other VOCs with OH or ozone. Some peak HCHO concentrations can also be linked to emission events of other VOCs, while a significant portion remains unexplained by the reported events. It is likely, based on the results from the SHARP campaign and our analysis, that some episodic emission events releasing primary HCHO are unreported to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

► We discriminated industrial sources of HCHO from mobile and secondary sources.
► The contribution of industrial sources to total atmospheric formaldehyde is 16%.
► Secondary HCHO resulted from the reactions of olefins and other VOCs with OH or O3.
► Some peak HCHO concentrations can be linked to emission events of other VOCs.
► Some episodic emission events containing HCHO are likely unreported to the TCEQ.