Effects of Anthropogenic and Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds on Los Angeles Air Quality

-xylene, toluene, propylene, and formaldehyde. The top five contributors to SOAP were toluene, mineral spirits, benzene, heptadecane, and hexadecane. Mobile and solvent sources were the dominant VOC sources for both OFP and SOAP. The potential increases in biogenic VOC emissions due to future urban greening had significant effects on urban air quality that offset the benefits of reducing anthropogenic VOC emissions. This study demonstrates that urban greening programs in Los Angeles county, and likely other cities as well, need to account for both anthropogenic and biogenic VOC contributions to secondary pollution, and greening cities should consider using vegetation types with low VOC emissions to avoid further degradation to urban air quality.