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MULTIMEDIA HUMAN EXPOSURE MODELING

Contact

http://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_comments.cfm

Impact/Purpose:

The research is planned to meet the following objectives:

Support is provided to HEASD Tasks by Alan Huber. (60% 9524 New Air Toxics Modeling, ; 10% 5732 PM Population Exposure Modeling; 10% 3948 Next Generation MMMP Exposure Modeling; 10% N533 PM Toxic agent exposure modeling, and 10% 3957 Integrated Human Exposure Source-to-Dose Modeling)

  • Development of data and algorithms for exposure modeling in urban areas, to be used in refined probabilistic exposure models being developed elsewhere, to allow prediction of human exposures for an urban population.

  • Characterize exposures and variability of concentrations in critical microenvironments in urban areas using targeted measurement studies and refined air quality models.

  • Identify critical human activities influencing exposures, especially identifying microenvironments that are key to exposures to urban air toxics.

  • Develop methods (measurements, dispersion modeling, receptor modeling) to distinguish exposures to "near field" sources - like indoor sources, human activities or hobbies, or nearby point or area sources - from "background" concentrations or from distant sources that can be modeled well by compartmental or air quality models.

  • Provide data and algorithms based on a scientific understanding of exposure dynamics for inclusion in NERL human exposure models and other models like OAR's TRIM..

    • Description:

    People are exposed to air pollutants within their microenvironments of activity from a multiplicity of local sources (e.g., the neighborhood gas station, cars on the roads nearby, the corner dry cleaner, the nearby tune-up and auto repair shop, the hobbies they enjoy, the cleaners they use at home, the foods they prepare, ... ) as well as general transport from afar. The local scale exposures are periodic and sometimes intense. Such exposures are not well characterized by the average concentration in an air quality model grid. Data to identify the magnitude, duration, and frequency of such exposures to "near field" sources must be developed if the actual distribution of human exposures in urban areas is to be understood. The research supported under this task will build on efforts underway in other programs to develop improved human exposure models and activity patterns for understanding human exposures in urban settings. Available data on air concentrations will be analyzed regarding distribution and variability of exposures in various microenvironmental settings. Urban microenvironmental models will be developed. This modeling task will collaborate with the NERL modeling team to conduct appropriate field/modeling studies in the RTP area. In the end, the development of new human exposure model will be supported. While this task provides research on the air pathways of exposure it will be planned and coordinated to support NERL's development of a multi-media human exposure modeling system.

    Record Details:

    Record Type:PROJECT
    Start Date:07/01/1998
    Completion Date:09/30/2002
    Record ID: 56155