ABSTRACT
Volatile organic compounds are gaseous in the atmosphere but may be liquid as emissions. For instance, when handling organic solvents, solvent spray may be formed and not evaporated due to high gas concentrations. Later when the spray is diluted in air, the remaining solvent will evaporate. Secondary organic aerosols (SOA) impact on human health and on climate. The uncertainty in the estimation of the environmental impact indicator is caused by varying local conditions, potency of SOA relative PM2.5 and varying particle formation efficiency for individual chemical compounds. The environmental impact factor for undernutrition from CO2 was 1.72E-06 personyears/kg CO2. The extent of the impacts varies due to local and regional conditions. The residence times in air varies from several years (methane) to a week. The environmental impact factor for crop loss from NOxvia tropospheric ozone was determined to be 0.120 kg crop/kg NOx.
