Emission of aldehydes from light duty diesel vehicles

Objective To characterize acetaldehyde and formaldehyde emissions, which are harmful gases to human health and not yet regulated for diesel engines. Methods Standardized tests were performed in four diesel light duty commercial vehicles, using a frame dynamometer and test procedure FTP-75. The pollutants were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. Results Results have shown acetaldehyde emission ranged from 5.9 to 45.4 mg/km, and formaldehyde emission from 165 to 115.2 mg/km. The average emission for aldehyde sum was 58.7 mg/km, ranging from 22.4 to 160.6 mg/km. The proportion between the two substances remained constant, close to 74% for formaldehydes and 26% for acetaldehydes. Conclusions The emission of diesel vehicle aldehydes was significant when compared with actual spark ignition vehicle emissions, or with the foresee limit for Otto cycle vehicles in Brazilian legislation. Establishing emission limits for these substances also in diesel vehicles is imperative in the light of the vehicle fleet growth, toxicity of these compounds, and their contribution as precursors in ozone gas formation reactions in low troposphere.