Trends and uncertainties in volatile organic compound emissions from anthropogenic sources

This paper discusses trends and uncertainties in the anthropogenic emission inventory for VOC. EPA's trend analysis indicates that emissions increased almost across the board until about 1970. After 1970, emissions continued to increase for industrial solvents, but declined for transportation, nonindustrial solvents, and combustion and waste disposal. With the current emphasis on using grid models to define NO_x and VOC control strategies, the uncertainty of emission inventories is becoming increasingly important. However, the volume of data in an emissions inventory makes the detailed assessment of uncertainty difficult if not impossible.