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SPRINGTIME SPATIAL CONCENTRATION GRADIENTS OF NITROGEN DIOXIDE AND VOLATILE ORGANIC SPECIES IN THE EL PASO CHILDREN'S HEALTH STUDY
Citation:
Neas, L, M Gonzales, S Rhoney, D Walsh, J. W. Scott, M. Morandi, AND R. P. Clickner. SPRINGTIME SPATIAL CONCENTRATION GRADIENTS OF NITROGEN DIOXIDE AND VOLATILE ORGANIC SPECIES IN THE EL PASO CHILDREN'S HEALTH STUDY. Presented at ISEA, Charleston, SC, November 4-8, 2001.
Description:
Each year, over 18 million vehicles cross the international border between El Paso, TX (USA) and Ciudad Juarez (Mexico). The border traffic congestion, as well as the more typical intra-urban and interstate traffic, provide an opportunity to investigate the health effects of PM and co-pollutants in children. In the El Paso Children=s Health study, approximately 9,100 parents of children enrolled in the fourth and fifth grades of the 53 elementary schools in the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) received a respiratory health questionnaire in February 2001. With parental consent, children at 20 of these schools underwent pulmonary function testing. Three to four schools per week participated in pulmonary function testing between March 26 and May 11, 2001. Concurrent with the week of pulmonary function testing, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) were monitored with passive monitors outside of the schools. Four-day integrated NO2 and VOC samples were collected at each school. The VOC monitors were analyzed for a set of 41 volatile organic species that have been previously identified in El Paso ambient air.
Spatial gradients for NO2 and motor vehicle related VOCs had been observed during previous monitoring studies conducted at the same schools during winter thermal inversion conditions. NO2 concentrations were inversely related to distance from central El Paso and the international border. Similar gradients were observed for many of the VOCs including benzene, toluene, xylenes, MTBE, 1,3-butadiene. The data from the current study provide an opportunity to examine the spatial gradients of these pollutants during the spring season when the atmosphere is less stable and desert dust storms are common. In addition, the full compliment of school-based air monitoring data will be used to examine the associations between the air pollutant and lung function and respiratory health data from the questionnaires.
(This is an abstract of a proposed presentation and does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.)