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Receptor Modeling of Epiphytic Lichens to Elucidate the Sources and SpatialDistribution of Inorganic Air Pollution in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region
Citation:
Landis, M., J. Pancras, J. Graney, R. Stevens, K. Perry, AND S. Krupa. Receptor Modeling of Epiphytic Lichens to Elucidate the Sources and SpatialDistribution of Inorganic Air Pollution in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region. Chapter 18, Alberta Oil Sands: Energy, Industry and the Environment. Elsevier BV, AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 11:427-467, (2012).
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory′s (NERL′s) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA′s mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD′s research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA′s strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize the movement of pollutants from the source to contact with humans. Our multidisciplinary research program produces Methods, Measurements, and Models to identify relationships between and characterize processes that link source emissions, environmental concentrations, human exposures, and target-tissue dose. The impact of these tools is improved regulatory programs and policies for EPA.
Description:
The contribution of inorganic air pollutant emissions to atmospheric deposition in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) of Alberta, Canada was investigated in the surrounding boreal forests, using a common epiphytic lichen bio-indicator species (Hypogymnia physodes) and applying multiple receptor models. Source materials from anthropogenic and natural emitters of air pollution in the AOSR were obtained and chemically characterized to aid in the assessment. The lichens selected for analysis were collected in 2008 using a stratified, nested grid approach radiating away from the central area of oil sands production, at 121 sampling sites extending as far as 150 km.