Forest fires emissions from

Forster C., Wandinger U., Wotawa G., James P., Mattis L, Althausen D., Simmonds P., O Doherty S., Jennings S. G., Kleefeld C., Schneider J., Trickl T., Kreipl S., Jager H., and Stohl A. (2001) Transport of boreal forest fire emissions from Canada to Europe. J. Geophys. Res. 106, 22887—22906. 

Many studies have shown that in North Europe major biomass burning emissions are mostly linked with wood smoke from fireplaces and stoves, whereas in Southern Europe wildfires can be the most important biomass combustion source. The Mediterranean region is frequently under the influence of this phenomenon, especially during dry periods. Although wildfires can be a major contributor of particulate matter into the atmosphere, forest fire emissions are poorly quantified in the literature, due to the difficulties induced in estimating their temporal and spatial distribution. 

Carbon monoxide emissions from the terrestrial biosphere are small, but forest fires produce 0.02 Pg C/yr. Degradation of chlorophyll is dying plant material seems to be the largest CO-producing mechanism at 0.04-0.2 Pg C/yr (Freyer, 1979). 

Cadmium (Cd) anode cells are at present manufactured based on nickel-cadmium, silver-cadmium, and mercury-cadmium couples. Thus wastewater streams from cadmium-based battery industries carry toxic metals cadmium, nickel, silver, and mercury, of which Cd is regarded the most hazardous. It is estimated that globally, manufacturing activities add about 3-10 times more Cd to the atmosphere than from natural resources such as forest fire and volcanic emissions. As a matter of fact, some studies have shown that NiCd batteries contribute almost 80% of cadmium to the environment,4,23 while the atmosphere is contaminated when cadmium is smelted and released as vapor into the atmosphere4 Consequently, terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environments become contaminated with cadmium and remain reservoirs for human cadmium poisoning. 

Natural sources of airborne nickel include soil dust, sea salt, volcanoes, forest fires, and vegetation exudates and account for about 16% of the atmospheric nickel burden (Kasprzak 1987 WHO 1991 Chau and Kulikovsky-Cordeiro 1995). Human sources of atmospheric nickel — which account for about 84% of all atmospheric nickel — include emissions from nickel ore mining, smelting, and refining activities combustion of fossil fuels for heating, power, and motor vehicles ... 

Thermal reactions leading to the PCDD/F emissions are connected with technological and domestic combustion. PCDD/Fs were found in the emissions of the various combustion processes independently from the fuel municipal and hazardous waste incinerators, power plants with fossil fuels, automobile exhaust, private heating and fire places, wood and forest fires,... 

There are 210 different isomeric possibilities, 75 of which are PCDDs and 135 are PCDFs. The toxicity of these isomers varies greatly, and only 15 exhibit extreme toxicity, the most toxic of which is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD). The toxicity of the other isomers is therefore expressed as a toxicity equivalent of 2,3,7,8-TCDD. The PCDDs and PCDFs are poorly water soluble but are fat soluble and are therefore able to accumulate in tissue fat, thus allowing them to bio-accumulate in living organisms. The origin of dioxins in the pulp and paper industry is not entirely clear. They may be produced from the chlorination of dibenzodioxin which may be present in recycled oils used to make defoamers, but they may also arise from wood chips which have been treated with polychlorophenol to prevent sap stain formation. It is also possible that they are derived from lignin by chlorination. Dioxins are also known to be formed naturally by combustion of material such as wood, and forest fires have been particularly identified as a likely major cause of dioxin emissions. 

Excerpt 4E is taken from an article in Chemical Research in Toxicology and involves the toxicity of fine particulate matter, airborne particles with effective diameters <2.5 pm (also known as PM2 5). The fine particulate was collected using a PM2 5 monitor. Ambient air is pulled through the monitor, diverting the larger particles (>2.5 pm) and capturing only the smaller ones onto a filter. Such fine particles arise from a number of sources including industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, and forest fires and may lead to asthma, bronchitis, and possibly cancer. 

Savarino, J., and M. Legrand, High Northern Latitude Forest Fires and Vegetation Emissions over the Last Millenium Inferred from the Chemistry of a Central Greenland Ice Core, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 8267-8279 (1998). 

Toluene is released into the atmosphere principally from the volatilization of petroleum fuels and toluene-based solvents and thinners and in motor vehicle exhaust. It is also present in emissions from volcanoes, forest fires and crude oil. It has been detected at low levels in surface water, groundwater, drinking-water and soil samples (United States National Library of Medicine, 1997). 

Yokelson RJ, Urbanski SP, Atlas EL, Toohey DW, Alvarado EC, Crounse JD, Wennberg PO, Fisher ME, Wold CE, Campos TL, Adachi K, Buseck PR, Hao WM (2007) Emissions from forest fires near Mexico City. Atmos Chem Phys 7 5569-5584... 

During biomass and fuel burning, a complex mixture of ill-characterized volatile organic matter are released into the atmosphere (Andreae and Merlet, 2001). It contributes to the formation of aerosols and fine particles of sizes up to 100 pm. After an estimated lifetime of 7.9 days (Cook and Wilson, 1996), they are either degraded or are removed from the atmosphere by precipitation. However, they can be transported a considerable distance. For example, boreal forest fires contribute substantially to atmospheric BC in the Arctic (Cook and Wilson, 1996), and Antarctica receives BC from biomass burning in the tropics (Wolff and Cachier, 1998). On a global scale the amount of atmospheric emission is estimated with 5-6Tg BC yr 1,... 

In the pure form, CDDs are colorless solids or crystals. CDDs enter the environment as mixtures containing a variety of individual components and impurities. In the environment they tend to be associated with ash, soil, or any surface with a high organic content, such as plant leaves. In air and water, a portion of the CDDs may be found in the vapor or dissolved state, depending on the amount of particulate matter, temperature, and other environmental factors. 2,3,7,8-TCDD is odorless. The odors of the other CDDs are not known. CDDs are known to occur naturally, and are also produced by human activities. They are naturally produced from the incomplete combustion of organic material by forest fires or volcanic activity. CDDs are not intentionally manufactured by industry, except in small amounts for research purposes. They are unintentionally produced by industrial, municipal, and domestic incineration and combustion processes. Currently, it is believed that CDD emissions associated with human incineration and combustion activities are the predominant environmental source. 

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