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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A COMMUNITY MONITOR AND PERSONAL EXPOSURES TO PM 2.5 MASS AND TRACE ELEMENTS IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Citation:
Landis, M S., G A. Norris, R B. Zweidinger, R W. Williams, AND J C. Suggs. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A COMMUNITY MONITOR AND PERSONAL EXPOSURES TO PM 2.5 MASS AND TRACE ELEMENTS IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. Presented at Third Colloquium on Particulate Matter and Human Health, Chapel Hill, NC, June 6-8, 1999.
Impact/Purpose:
To use the tools of x-ray fluorescence (XRF), ion chromatography (IC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal optical (organic and elemental carbon -- OC & EC), and radiocarbon analysis combined with various receptor models to determine the contributions of sources to PM as measured in outdoor (ambient) environments or particular microenvironments involving human exposure issues.
Description:
The relationship between a community monitor and personal exposures to PM2.5 mass and trace elements was investigated for 28 days during the summer of 1998 in a retirement home in Baltimore, Maryland. Daily community, outdoor, and indoor PM2.5 were measured with a URG Versatile Air Pollutant Sampler (VAPS). In addition, daily personal and apartment PM2.5 samples were collected with a Marple Personal Exposure Monitor (PEM) for 10 subjects. Both the VAPS and PEM samples were analyzed by energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (XRF). The spatial correlation coefficients between the community and outdoor monitor, and the penetration factors were calculated for elemental species typically above the XRF detection limit for the VAPS samples. Infiltration of PM2.5 mass, and sulfur were similar when determined with linear regression with factors of 0.35 (r2=0.94) and 0.39 (r2=0.94), respectively. Central indoor, apartment, and personal exposures were also evaluated. These results are compared to previous particulate matter exposure studies.
This work has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication.