Characterizing residential wood smoke at the neighbourhood scale: An evaluation of five communities in British Columbia

The spatial and temporal distribution of residential wood smoke is characterized at the neighbourhood scale during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 heating seasons within five communities situated in British Columbia. Measurements at the central monitoring stations confirmed that wood smoke is a prevalent (levoglucosan/PM 2.5 = 0.06 +/- 0.03) and consistent (levoglucosan-PM2.5r spear = 0.78-0.92) source of PM2.5 in the communities. Comparisons between the two heating seasons suggest residential wood smoke concentrations may be declining. Persistent wood smoke hotspots were identified with mean estimated PM2.5 ranging 13-59 mug m-3 and maximum values > 200 mug m-3. These areas were largely associated with single family dwellings followed by housing types typically associated with lower socioeconomic statuses. Central monitoring stations were representative of seasonal average community-wide concentrations during heating season evenings and slash burning was identified as a non-residential source of wood smoke that impacted the communities during the fall.