Publication - Journal Article Anthropogenic enhancements to production of highly oxygenated molecules from autoxidation

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116, iss. 14, pp. 6641-6646, 2019

Havala O. T. Pye, Emma L. D’Ambro, Ben H. Lee, Siegfried Schobesberger, Masayuki Takeuchi, Yue Zhao, Felipe Lopez-Hilfiker, Jiumeng Liu, John E. Shilling, Jia Xing, Rohit Mathur, Ann M. Middlebrook, Jin Liao, Andre Welti, Martin Graus, Carsten Warneke, Joost A. de Gouw, John S. Holloway, Thomas B. Ryerson, Ilana B. Pollack, Joel A. Thornton

Significance Government organizations set standards for permissible levels of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) due to its adverse effects on human health and the environment. Unimolecular reactions that efficiently produce organic PM are suppressed by NO x , allowing for potential increases in PM mass due to controls on anthropogenic NO x . Using laboratory experiments and observations of the atmosphere, we assemble a conceptual understanding of how PM from unimolecular organic reactions is affected by NO x . We demonstrate that the NO x penalty on PM yield can be offset by reductions in oxidant abundance. As a result, PM from unimolecular reactions is predicted to decrease as NO x is controlled, consistent with declines in ambient organic aerosol observed in the United States between 1990 and today.