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DETROIT EXPOSURE AND AEROSOL RESEARCH STUDY
Citation:
Williams, R W., A W. Rea, AND L S. Sheldon. DETROIT EXPOSURE AND AEROSOL RESEARCH STUDY. Presented at Internantional Joint Commission on U.S.-Canada Border, Windsor, Canada, February 26, 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
Six objectives have been defined for this study.
(1) To determine the associations between concentrations measured at central site monitors and outdoor residential, indoor residential and personal exposures for selected air toxics, PM constituents, and PM from specific sources.
(2) To describe the physical and chemical factors that affect the relationship between central site monitors and outdoor residential and indoor residential concentrations, including those that affect ambient source impacts.
(3) To identify the human activity factors that influence personal exposures to selected PM constituents and air toxics.
(4) To improve and evaluate models used to characterize and estimate residential concentrations of and human exposures to selected air toxics, PM constituents, and PM from specific sources.
(5) To investigate and apply source apportionment models to evaluate the relationships for PM from specific sources and to determine the contribution of specific ambient sources to residential concentrations and personal exposures to PM constituents and air toxics.
(6) To determine the associations between ambient concentrations of criteria gases (O3, NO2, and SO2) and personal exposures for these gases as well as personal exposures to air toxics, PM constituents, and PM from specific sources.
Description:
The DEARS is a three-year field monitoring study that will be conducted in Detroit, Michigan and is designed to measure exposure and describe exposure relationships for air toxics, PM components, PM from specific sources, and criteria pollutants. Detroit, Michigan was considered the best candidate for this study because of its current and projected future non-attainment status for PM2.5, the number of point and mobile source influences present, its geographic location, meteorology, ambient monitoring networks, potential state and local collaborations, and community-based partnerships.
Monitoring will focus primarily on the residence. Study participants and households will be identified through a step-wise approach involving identifying census blocks with and without impacts from local point and/or mobile sources based on prevailing wind direction and then targeting individual households for recruitment into the study. Individual census tracts and blocks will be identified by evaluating available data on the location and emissions from various sources, ambient air concentrations and housing stock. Once census tracts/blocks are identified we will work through existing community action groups in Detroit and the surrounding area to assist with contacting individual households. Partnering with community groups will be important in making connections with residents and communicating the purpose of the study.
Residences will be selected based on proximity to sources. Residences in seven ambient source-impacted areas (mobile sources, point sources, and a control) will be monitored for 5 days in each of 2 seasons (summer, winter). A total of 120 residences will be monitored over 3 years for a total of 1200 household-person/days. A combination of both weekday and weekend sampling will be conducted in order to evaluate expected variations in industrial source emissions, traffic volumes, and personal activities. A Speciation Trends Network site, Allen Park, has been selected as the central site monitor for this study. In addition, one residential outdoor location will be selected each week to serve as a secondary, or rotating, community site. These data will be used to determine how representative the primary and secondary community measures (Allen Park and the selected residential outdoor sites) are relative to all other outdoor locations. Monitoring is anticipated to start in the summer of 2004.
This is an abstract of a proposed presentation and does not necessarily reflect the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policy. The actual presentation has not been peer reviewed by EPA. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.