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Dispersion Modeling of Traffic-Related Air Pollutant Exposures and Health Effects among Children with Asthma in Detroit, Michigan
Citation:
Batterman, S., R. Ganguly, V. Isakov, J. Burke, S. Arunachalam, M. Snyder, T. Robins, AND T. Lewis. Dispersion Modeling of Traffic-Related Air Pollutant Exposures and Health Effects among Children with Asthma in Detroit, Michigan. In Proceedings, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, January 12 - 16, 2014. Transportation Research Board OF the National Academies, Washington, DC, 105-113, (2015).
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:
Vehicular traffic is a major source of ambient air pollution in urban areas, and traffic-related air pollutants, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter under 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) and diesel exhaust emissions, have been associated with a number of adverse human health effects, especially in areas near major roads. In addition to emissions from vehicles, ambient concentrations of air pollutants include contributions from stationary sources and background (or regional) sources. While dispersion models have been widely used to evaluate air quality strategies and policies, and they are capable of representing the spatial and temporal variation in near-road environments, to date their use in health studies to estimate air pollutant exposures has been relatively limited. This paper summarizes the modeling system used to estimate exposures in the Near-roadway EXposure and Urban air pollutant Study (NEXUS) air pollution epidemiology study, which is examining 139 children with asthma or symptoms consistent with asthma, most of whom live near major roads in Detroit, Michigan. Air pollutant concentrations are estimated using a hybrid modeling framework that included detailed inventories of mobile and stationary sources at local and regional scales, RLINE, AERMOD and CMAQ dispersion models, and monitored observations of pollutant concentrations. The temporal and spatial variability in emissions and exposures is characterized over the 2.5-year study period and at over 300 home and school locations. The paper highlights issues in developing and understanding the significance of traffic-related exposures using dispersion models in urban scale exposure assessments and epidemiology studies.
URLs/Downloads:
TRB 2014 MEETING PAPER - DISPERSION MODELING AND NEXUS V6 FOR PUB.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 1920.905 KB, about PDF)Transportation Research Board of the National Academies
