Hydrocarbons in smoke aerosols from controlled burning of Mangifera Foetida litter falls and Panicum repens

A study has been carried out to characterize hydrocarbons emitted from the burning of two typical garden wastes, bachang (Mangifera foetida) litter falls and grass (panicum repens). The biomass samples were burned and their respective smoke particulate emitted was sampled using high volume sampler fitted with pre-cleaned glass fibre filters under smouldering and flaming conditions. Hydrocarbons were extracted using dichloromethane-methanol mixture as solvent and the extracts fractionated on silica-alumina column. Detection and quantification of aliphatic hydrocarbons and PAHs compounds were carried out using GC-MS. For comparison, hydrocarbons in fresh unburnt bachang litter falls and grass were also analyzed for aliphatic and PAHs content. Result indicated that the major components in the aliphatic fraction for all samples were nalkane compounds which exhibited a saw-tooth pattern that is characteristic of a biogenic origin. The major components in this aliphatic fraction for smoke particulate matters were n-alkanes in the range of C12-36, with an odd to even carbon predominance with CPI values ranging from 2.89-4.32 and Cmax generally at C3