Grantee Research Project Results
2023 Progress Report: Studying Air Pollution-Health-Climate Interactions for People of Color in Southeast Queens, NY: A Community-Based Project
EPA Grant Number: R840474Title: Studying Air Pollution-Health-Climate Interactions for People of Color in Southeast Queens, NY: A Community-Based Project
Investigators: Roberts-Semple, Dawn , Shin, Jin , Gao, Yuan
Institution: City University of New York - York College , Rutgers University - Newark , City University of New York - Medgar Evers College
Current Institution: City University of New York - York College , City University of New York - Medgar Evers College , Rutgers University - Newark
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: November 1, 2022 through May 12, 2025
Project Period Covered by this Report: November 1, 2022 through October 31,2023
Project Amount: $1,344,622
RFA: Cumulative Health Impacts at the Intersection of Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and Vulnerable Populations/Lifestages: Community-Based Research for Solutions (2021) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Watersheds , Endocrine Disruptors , Environmental Justice , Human Health
Objective:
To engage Southeast (SE) Queens residents in the measurements of key air pollutants through community-based participatory research (CBPR), increasing their understanding of climatic factors and air pollution impacts on health, and empowering them to use such knowledge to inform policy on alleviating climate impacts and sustaining good health. The specific objectives are: to demonstrate the impact of pollutant emissions from waste stations on air quality in SE Queens through research field measurements; to train the residents to develop community science strategies such as crowdsourcing tools with the new knowledge gained from the measurements, enabling the residents facing environmental injustice to mobilize new innovative, low-cost, replicable strategies leading to the development of policy recommendations for better management of waste transfer stations; and to translate the research data and community input into climate and policy solutions for traffic emission reduction and relief from the current health burden, improving quality of life.
Progress Summary:
To promote community engagement, a presentation titled, “Air pollution and environmental justice in SE Queens: A Community conversation” was delivered by the PI at a town hall meeting on 6/26/2023 at Public School/Intermediate School (PS/IS) 107. The SE Queens community was formally introduced to the project and a discussion followed with residents and owners of the waste transfer stations. In preparation for field measurements, a community tour/walk was launched from the Detective Keith L. Williams Park on 7/8/2023, for site selection downwind from the waste transfer stations for the collection of particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) samples. The research team and SE Queens residents also visited a waste transfer station to meet with the owner(s), recorded PM measurements for real-time visualization, and identified other possible pollution sources. General laboratory supplies were purchased. In preparation for the analysis of toxic metals in air samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), concentrated acids, Optima nitric acid (HNO3), and Optima hydrofluoric acid (HF) were obtained. For ion chromatography (IC), a Dionex EGC 500 KOH eluent generator cartridge and Dionex EGC III MSA methane sulfonic acid eluent generator cartridge was procured for anion and cation analyses, respectively.
Future Activities:
Participant training for students, community leaders and residents in tree-leaf collection for PM2.5 sampling and IC analysis, lab preparation for sample analyses and instruments: NO2, O3, PM2.5 (AQY-R micro air monitor), PM2.5 (Mini-Vol), toxic metals, VOCs (summa canisters), PFAS (FM4 active sampler), and toxic organics. Other project activities will include pre- and postweighing of Teflon air filters for PM2.5 mass concentrations, meteorological parameter collection, CBPR framework design and implementation. Consent forms and community questionnaires to be administered in consultation with Project Evaluator, Dr. Kenneth Rath, are scheduled for distribution in Spring 2024. Field sampling is tentatively scheduled to begin summer 2024, pending final IRB approval.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 1 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Air pollution, public health, community engagement, decision- policymaking, environmental educationProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.