Abstract. Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) are important precursors of
ozone (O3) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA), which play key roles in
tropospheric chemistry. A huge amount of NMVOC emissions from solvent use
are complicated by a wide spectrum of sources and species. This work
presents a long-term NMVOC emission inventory of solvent use during
2000–2017 in China. Based on a mass (material) balance method, NMVOC
emissions were estimated for six categories, including coatings, adhesives,
inks, pesticides, cleaners, and personal care products. The results show that
NMVOC emissions from solvent use in China increased rapidly from 2000 to
2014 then kept stable after 2014. The total emission increased from 1.6 Tg
(1.2–2.2 Tg at 95 % confidence interval) in 2000 to 10.6 Tg (7.7–14.9 Tg)
in 2017. The substantial growth is driven by the large demand for solvent
products in both industrial and residential activities. However, increasing
treatment facilities in the solvent-related factories in China restrained
the continued growth of solvent NMVOC emissions in recent years. Rapidly
developing and heavily industrialized provinces such as Jiangsu, Shandong,
and Guangdong contributed significantly to the solvent use emissions.
Oxygenated VOCs, alkanes, and aromatics were the main components, accounting for
42 %, 28 %, and 21 % of total NMVOC emissions in 2017, respectively.
Our results and previous inventories are generally comparable within the
estimation uncertainties (−27 %–52 %). However, there exist significant
differences in the estimates of sub-categories. Personal care products were
a significant and quickly rising source of NMVOCs, which were probably
underestimated in previous inventories. Emissions from solvent use were
growing faster compared with transportation and combustion emissions, which
were relatively better controlled in China. Environmentally friendly
products can reduce the NMVOC emissions from solvent use. Supposing all
solvent-based products were substituted with water-based products, it would
result in 37 %, 41 %, and 38 % reduction of emissions, ozone formation
potential (OFP), and secondary organic aerosol formation potential (SOAP),
respectively. These results indicate there is still large potential for NMVOC
reduction by reducing the utilization of solvent-based products and
implementation of end-of-pipe controls across industrial sectors.
Elucidating the importance of semi-volatile organic compounds to secondary organic aerosol formation at a regional site during the EXPLORE-YRD campaign
