%0 Journal Article
%T Rising Perfluorocyclobutane (PFC-318, c-C4F8) Emissions in China from 2011 to 2020 Inferred from Atmospheric Observations.
%A Wang Y
%A An M
%A Western LM
%A Prinn RG
%A Hu J
%A Zhao X
%A Rigby M
%A Mühle J
%A Vollmer MK
%A Weiss RF
%A Yao B
%J Environ Sci Technol
%V 58
%N 26
%D 2024 Jul 2
%M 38874561
%F 11.357
%R 10.1021/acs.est.3c10325
%X Global atmospheric emissions of perfluorocyclobutane (c-C4F8, PFC-318), a potent greenhouse gas, have increased rapidly in recent years. Combining atmospheric observations made at nine Chinese sites with a Lagrangian dispersion model-based Bayesian inversion technique, we show that PFC-318 emissions in China grew by approximately 70% from 2011 to 2020, rising from 0.65 (0.54-0.72) Gg year-1 in 2011 to 1.12 (1.05-1.19) Gg year-1 in 2020. The PFC-318 emission increase from China played a substantial role in the overall increase in global emissions during the study period, contributing 58% to the global total emission increase. This growth predominantly originated in eastern China. The regions with high emissions of PFC-318 in China overlap with areas densely populated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) factories, implying that fluoropolymer factories are important sources of PFC-318 emissions in China. Our investigation reveals an emission factor of approximately 3.02 g of byproduct PFC-318 emissions per kg of hydrochlorofluorocarbon-22 (HCFC-22) feedstock use in the production of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) (for PTFE production) and hexafluoropropylene (HFP) if we assume all HCFC-22 produced for feedstock uses in China are pyrolyzed to produce PTFE and HFP. Further facility-level sampling and analysis are needed for a more precise evaluation of emissions from these factories.