Comparison of Emission of Dioxins and Furans from Gasohol- and Ethanol-Powered Vehicles

Author(s)

de Abrantes, Rui ^[1] ; de Assuncao, Joao V. ^[2] ; Pesquero, Celia R. ; da Nobrega, Raimundo P. ; Bruns, Roy E. ^[3]

Affiliation

^[1] Vehicular Emiss Lab, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Environm Hlth, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Chem, Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF THE AIR & WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION; v. 61, n. 12, p. 1344-1352, DEC 2011.
• Web of Science Citations: 2

Abstract

The exhaust emissions of 17 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were investigated in two spark-ignition light-duty vehicles, one gasohol-fueled and a flexible-fuel one fueled with hydrated ethanol. Gasohol is a mixture of gasoline and 22% ethanol. The influence of fuel type and quality, lubricant oil type, and use of fuel additives on the formation of these compounds was tested using standardized U.S. Federal Test Procedure (FTP)-75 cycle tests. The sampling of the PCDD/Fs followed the recommendations of a modified U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 23 ( A:www.epa.gov/ttn/emc/promgate/m-23.pdf) and the analysis basically followed the U.S. EPA Method 8290 (http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/testmethods/sw846/pdfs/8290a.pdf). Results showed that emission factors of PCDD/Fs for the gasohol vehicle varied from undetected to 0.068 pg international toxic equivalency (I-TEQ) km(-1) (average of 0.0294 pg I-TEQ km-1), whereas in the ethanol vehicle they varied from 0.004 to 0.157 pg (I-TEQ) km(-1) (average of 0.031 pg I-TEQ km(-1)). In the gasohol-powered vehicle, the use of fuel additive diminished the emission of Octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) significantly, whereas in the ethanol vehicle no significant associations were observed between the investigated variables and the emissions. (AU)