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Assessment of port-related air quality impacts: geographic analysis of population
Citation:
Arunachalam, S., H. Brantley, T. Barzyk, G. Hagler, V. Isakov, Sue Kimbrough, B. Naess, N. Rice, M. Snyder, K. Talgo, AND A. Venkatram. Assessment of port-related air quality impacts: geographic analysis of population. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENT AND POLLUTION. Inderscience Enterprises Limited, Geneva, Switzerland, 58(4):231 - 250, (2015).
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory’s Atmospheric Modeling Division (AMAD) conducts research in support of EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment. AMAD’s research program is engaged in developing and evaluating predictive atmospheric models on all spatial and temporal scales for forecasting the Nation’s air quality and for assessing changes in air quality and air pollutant exposures, as affected by changes in ecosystem management and regulatory decisions. AMAD is responsible for providing a sound scientific and technical basis for regulatory policies based on air quality models to improve ambient air quality. The models developed by AMAD are being used by EPA, NOAA, and the air pollution community in understanding and forecasting not only the magnitude of the air pollution problem, but also in developing emission control policies and regulations for air quality improvements.
Description:
Increased global trade has led to greater transportation by rail, road and ships to move cargo. Based upon multiple near-road and near-source monitoring studies, the busy roadways and large emission sources at ports may impact local air quality within several hundred metres of the ports. Health effects have been associated with near-road exposures and proximity to large emission sources, so characterising emission sources is important for understanding potential health effects. To address this need, we have developed a new community-scale tool called C-PORT to model emissions related to all port-area activities and predict concentrations of multiple criteria and hazardous air pollutants at fine spatial scales in the near-source environment. We present a geographical information system analysis of areas surrounding five US ports (Ports of New York and New Jersey, Virginia, Savannah, Miami, and Houston) to determine potential sources of concern related to freight transport and demographics of the near-source population that could be affected.
