Aerosol from the burning two types of sandalwood-based incense, Hsing ShanandLao Shan, was analyzed to characterize the chemical profile of total particulatematter emitted. The total particulatematter (PM) mass emission factors were 46.3 ± 2.68 mg g−1 of Hsing Shanincenseand 43.7 ± 1.08 mg g−1 of Lao Shanincense. Chemical analysis of emissions from the two types of incense revealed that of the 25 components in four groups characterized, anhydrosugars formed the major group, at 46.7–52.2% w/w of the identified particulateand 1078.3–1169.8 μg g−1 of incense, followed by inorganic salts at 30.4–31.8% w/w of identified particulateand 681.6–734.0 μg g−1 of incense, carboxylicacids at 12.0–17.1% w/w of the identified particulateand 268.6–392.8 μg g−1 of incense, andsugaralcohols at 4.44–5.38% w/w of the identified particulateand 102.3–120.6 μg g−1 of incense. More anhydrosugars andsugaralcohols were emitted fromLao Shanincense than fromHsing Shanincense whereas more carboxylicacidsandorganic salts were emitted fromHsing Shan than fromLao Shan. These differences were due to structural and functional differences in the young sandalwood used to make Hsing Shanand the aged sandalwood used to make Lao Shan. The anhydrosugar levoglucosan, used as a marker of biomass burning, was always the most abundant species in emitted PM for both incenses (Lao Shan 21.7 mg g−1 of PM andHsing Shan 18.7 mg g−1). K+and Cl− were the second most abundant components (K+and Cl− were summed), accounting for 10.6 mg g−1 of Hsing Shan PM and 9.85 mg g−1 of Lao Shan PM. The most abundant carboxylicacidsin the emissions were formic, acetic, succinic, glutaric and phthalic acid. The latter is a fragrance ingredient and a potential health hazard and was twice as prevalent inLao Shan emissions. Xylitol was the most prevalent of the sugaralcohols at 35.7–36.6% w/w of total identified sugaralcohols. These abundant species are potential markers for incenseburning. K+, levoglucosan, mannosan and xylitol are already reported in discriminator ratios for wood burningand it is proposed here that these can and should also apply to incenseburning. The calculated discriminator ratios for two types of incenseburning reported here are 0.229–0.288 for K/Levo, 12.5–13.5 for Levo/Manno, and 21.5–23.7 for the novel discriminator ratio Levo/Xylitol.
