Secondary organic aerosol and the burning question of gasoline vs. diesel

Emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicles are predominant anthropogenic sources of reactive gas-phase organic carbon and key precursors to Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) in urban areas. Their relative importance for aerosol formation is a controversial issue with implications for air quality control policy and public health. Using novel gas chromatography and mass spectrometry methods, we analyzed liquid gasoline and diesel fuel collected across the state of California during Summer 2010 and used it to assess field data from the CalNex (California at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change) Bakersfield supersite and the Caldecott Tunnel in Oakland, CA. We present the most comprehensive data to date on the chemical composition, mass distribution, emissions, and SOA formation potential of gasoline and diesel sources. We find that diesel exhaust is 7 times more efficient at forming aerosol than gasoline exhaust and emits twice as much gas-phase organic carbon per liter of fuel burned. Yet, both sources are important for air quality; depending on a region's fuel use, diesel is responsible for 65-90% of vehicular-derived SOA, with substantial contributions from both aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. We assess our results in the context of other studies and discuss their implications for regional air pollution policies, fuel regulations, and methodologies for future measurement, laboratory, and modeling studies.