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ImpactsoftheLegalizationofMarijuanaonEmissionsandAirQualityinUSKirsti Ashworth1 andChristineWiedinmyer2
1UniversityofMichigan,2NationalCenterforAtmosphericResearch
1.INTRODUCTIONRecentchangesinUSstateregulationsallowforlegalmarijuanacultivationfacilities(MCFs,Figure1)anduseinColoradoandWashington.Marijuanaplants(Cannabisspp.)emitprimarilybiologicalparticles(e.g.,Fungi,Pollen[1,2])andahostofbiogenicvolatileorganiccompounds(VOCs).Theemissions,however,areveryuncertainandarenotwellconstrained.Wehypothesizethat,asthenumberofMCFsincreaseacrossthesestates,particularlyinandnearurbanareas,emissionsofbiogenicVOCswillincreaseandpotentiallyresultinimpactsonregionalairquality(O3 andPM).
Questions:WhatcompoundsarebeingemittedbyCannabisspp.andhowmuch?WhatisemittedreleasedtotheatmospherefromindoorandoutdoorMCFs?AretheemissionsfromMCFssignificantonlocalandregionalscales?Dotheseemissionsimpactozoneandparticulatematterformationonlocalandregionalscales?
AstheregulationsonmarijuanagrowingandusechangeacrosstheUS,theimpactsofthesechangesshouldbeevaluated.Byperformingassessmentsoftheemissionsandairqualityimpacts(orlackof)thatresultfromincreasesinMCFsinColoradoandWashingtonstates,wecanprovideaframeworkofforunderstandingtheairqualityimpactsofthechangingregulationsofmarijuanagrowingandusageacrosstheUS.
2.VOLATILESFROMCANNABISSPP.MeasurementsofemissionsfromCannabisspp.arelimited.EmissionfactorsforCannabisspp. forbiogenicVOCemissionsmodelingarenotcurrentlyavailable.
KnownvolatilesfromCannabis spp. includemonoterpenes (a-pinene,b-mycrene,b-pinene,andlimonene),delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol(THC,C21H30O2),oxygenatedVOCs,andsesquiterpenes (Figure2;[3-6]).
Incultivationfacilities,a-pinene,b-mycrene,b-pinene,andlimonenewerefoundtobepresentinhighconcentrations(50to100ppb)inthegrowingrooms.AlloftheairborneTHClevelswerebelowthedetectionlevel(0.10μg/sample)exceptforonesample(0.70μg/sample)thatwasnearthedetectionlimit[2].
3.QUICKEMISSIONESTIMATESFORCOLORADOCurrently,inColorado,marijuanacultivationfacilitiesmustbeinafullyenclosed,lockedarea.Asof15June2014,thereareontheorderof1,000cultivationsstatewide.Thesizeandlocationofthesearenotknownatthispoint,butthenumberoffacilitiesischangingrapidly(N.Bryant,StateofColorado,Personalcommunications,13June2014).
Jankauskiene andGruzdeviene [7]reportthatthedrybiomassfromtwocultivarsofCannabissativa rangedfrom162– 227g/m2 (average195g/m2).
AssuminganaverageMCFsizeof½hectare(5,000m2),thatequatesto973metrictonsofdrybiomass.Atotalmonoterpene emissionfactorof5mgg-1 hr-1,assumingthatCannabisspp. havetotalmonoterpeneemissionfactorsonthesameorderasotherhighemittingspecies(e.g.,Eucalytpus spp.andArtemisiaspp.(sage))[8].
Giventheseinitialassumptions,totalmonoterpene emissionsfromMCFsareontheorderof43metrictonyr-1.Theseestimationmethodsarevalidforcultivationfacilitiesintheoutdoors.However,inColorado,whereMCFsmustbeenclosed,emissionstotheatmospherewillalsobereduced.There,theamountofbiogenicVOCsreleasedintotheatmospherewillbeafractionofthetotalanddependentontheventilationsystemateachMCF.
4.IMPLICATIONSOverall,thesefirstestimatesarefairlysmallcomparedtootherVOCsourcesinthestateofColorado.However,asthenumberoffacilitiesincreases,thepotentialtoemitsignificantamountsofbiogenicVOCstotheatmospherebecomesapossibility.Thiscouldbeveryimportantwhenevaluatingimpactsonozoneandparticulatematterformation.
IntheFrontRangeregionofColorado,muchoftheDenvermetropolitanareaincludingDenver,Boulder,andpartsofWeldcountieshaveozoneproductionthatisVOC-limited(G.Tonnesson,US.EPARegion08,Personalcommunications,10June2014).Therefore,itispossiblethatincreasesinVOCs,includingemissionsfromMCFs,couldcauseincreasesinozoneconcentrationsincertainareas.
Figure2:VolatilesfromCannabisspp.
alpha-pinene
beta-pinene
myrcene
limonene
beta-caryophellene
ocimene
otherMTs&SQTs
other
oxygenatedVOCs
Figure1:PictureofMarijuanaCultivationFacility
5.FUTUREWORKTheemissionsproposedherearehighlyuncertainduetothelackofdataneededtobetterconstraintheestimationprocess.WerecommendthefollowingforadvancingtheknowledgewithregardtoquantifyingtheatmosphericimpactsofthelegalizationofmarijuanaintheUS:• QuantifyemissionfactorsandbiomassdensitiesassociatedwithCannabis
spp.• Determinethenumber,sizeandlocationofMCFsinlegalizedareas• Performsensitivitysimulationswithchemicaltransportmodelsto
determineif,where,andwhenemissionsfromMCFsareimportanttoozoneandparticulateformation.
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