Grantee Research Project Results

2011 Progress Report: Exposure Mapping – Characterization of Gases and Particles for ExposureAssessment in Health Effects and Laboratory Studies

EPA Grant Number: R834796C001
Subproject: this is subproject number 001 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R834796
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: University of Washington Center for Clean Air Research
Center Director: Vedal, Sverre
Title: Exposure Mapping – Characterization of Gases and Particles for ExposureAssessment in Health Effects and Laboratory Studies
Investigators: Yost, Michael , VanReken, Timothy M. , Jobson, B. Thomas , Larson, Timothy V. , Simpson, Chris
Institution: University of Washington , Washington University
EPA Project Officer: Callan, Richard
Project Period: December 1, 2010 through November 30, 2015 (Extended to November 30, 2017)
Project Period Covered by this Report: December 1, 2010 through July 31,2011
RFA: Clean Air Research Centers (2009) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Air

Objective:

Roadway-source air pollutants encompass a diversity of chemicals, including both particulate and gas phase components that are transformed by chemical and physical reactions as they age in the environment. Consequently, human exposures to air pollutants can range from relatively un-aged to highly aged components that vary with respect to particle size and the chemical composition of particle and gas phase components. To obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the seasonal and spatial variability in the concentration and composition of air pollutant exposures within MESA-Air cities, we employ mobile and fixed site monitoring to assess both gas and particle components of these pollutants as they age from roadway sources to population areas. The main project objectives are:

1. Characterize spatial and temporal gradients of selected air pollutants along roadways and within neighborhoods in MESA cities using a mobile platform.

2. Measure spatial variation in concentrations of selected air pollutants at 2-week average stationary sites in coordination with the mobile measurements.

3. Characterize aging of air pollutant components as they are transported from roadway sources to neighborhood receptor locations.

4. Provide detailed characterization of laboratory exposure conditions available for toxicology testing, and identify likely conditions that mimic those found in urban settings.

Progress Summary:

Aims 1 and 2 have been the main focus of activities in this period. During this startup phase a field sampling schedule has been defined across all cities, through 2013. We have been working on assembling the instrument platform for mobile monitoring that will be conducted in the four MESA Air cities: Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, Baltimore, MD, Los Angeles, CA, and Winston-Salem, NC. Each city will be measured during the heating and non-heating season, during a 2 week long sampling period. This mobile monitoring instrument platform is designed to measure concentrations of particles and gases while continuously on the move with position information simultaneously logged by a real-time GPS. We have ordered and received most of the instruments and are programming a custom Lab View interface to perform the data acquisition to a laptop.

Data collection will include the following components: optical particle size in 31 size bins from 10 to 0.2 um, particle mean diameter and particle count from 0.03 to 0.2 um, total particle count >0.1 um, particle light scattering coefficient, particle light absorption (black carbon), NO/NO₂, O₃, CO, CO₂ and total VOCs.

Planned driving routes are being created for each city, arranged into three sectors with ~15 measurement waypoints in each sector for measurement. The routes and waypoints will coincide with the 2-week passive sampling campaigns conducted at the same time as the mobile monitoring. Pilot testing of the particle instrument interface and GPS logging will commence in late August; the interfaces for other devices is planned for late September. The initial measurement campaign is planned to start in late November 2011, and will continue over the next 2 years. In addition to the mobile platform measurements in the four cities, we also are scheduled to make these same measurements of the controlled exposure atmospheres at LRRI in late spring 2012, in collaboration with Washington State University (WSU) as part of Objective 4.

WSU activities have included the following:

(1) Post Doc Search: The search was successful and we have hired Dr. Dan Bon, who brings experience with both PTR-MS and AMS instruments that will be used in the exposure chamber studies.

(2) Preparation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP): SOPs were prepared for both the PTR-MS and ToF-HR-AMS instruments and sent to CCAR staff.

(3) Meetings: WSU has participated via conference calls on the CCAR Investigators Meetings.

(4) Scheduling utilization of PTR-MS and TofF instrumentation.

Relatively few problems have been encountered to date that have required modifications in the project aims. After consulting with the Biostatistical Core, we determined that more passive sampling was needed to provide an adequate description of spatial variability in pollutants, and to reflect study subject residence concentrations. The main change has been to expand the number of passive samplers from 20 to ~40 in each city. Samplers will be placed based on a sampling frame designed to capture both near roadway levels and roadway gradients in pollutants and to reflect study subject residential concentrations. A standardized vehicle platform also was needed to improve logistics of the field sampling and to improve data quality control. We have elected to use a hybrid vehicle, which will operate on electric power at low speeds to enable a more accurate measurement of roadway pollutants in traffic. The same make/model vehicle will be rented in each city during the measurement sessions. Power for the instrument package will be provided by a 120 VAC inverter system that operates on a deep cycle battery, with partial recharging from the vehicle during operation.

Because of funding limitations associated with MESA Air and Project 5, epigenetic analyses are only available from a subset of the originally proposed MESA Air cities (See Project 5 Summary). As a result, both Project 5 and Project 1 altered the sample design to conduct air monitoring in the current four cities: St. Paul, Baltimore, Winston-Salem, and Los Angeles, while dropping New York and Chicago. This change, although not ideal with respect to epigenetics, does provide opportunities for monitoring increased pollutant concentrations in Los Angeles and more comprehensive participant health measurement.

Future Activities:

Two pilot projects are scheduled for equipment testing. The first, a limited equipment test, will take place in the first week of August 2011, in the local Seattle neighborhoods. The second, a full-scale systems test, will take place in Tacoma, WA, retracing areas where the previous Tacoma mobile monitoring study took place. Additionally, we are working with current University of Washington students and staff in two of the four cities (Baltimore and Los Angeles) scheduled to be sampled, having them drive example mobile monitoring routes for time and driving feasibility. They also will define criteria for selecting and documenting fixed sampling site locations. We anticipate starting field measurements in November and continuing over the next 2 years. The laboratory test environment measurement campaign currently is planned for the fall of 2012.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 43 publications for this subproject

Supplemental Keywords:

Exposure science, community exposures, chemical transport, mobile monitoring, Scientific Discipline, Health, Air, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Air Quality, air toxics, Health Risk Assessment, Risk Assessments, mobile sources, Environmental Monitoring, Biochemistry, Atmospheric Sciences, Risk Assessment, ambient air quality, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter, aerosol particles, air pollutants, motor vehicle emissions, vehicle emissions, air quality models, motor vehicle exhaust, airway disease, bioavailability, air pollution, particle exposure, atmospheric aerosols, ambient particle health effects, vascular dysfunction, cardiotoxicity, atmospheric chemistry, exposure assessment

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

Main Center Abstract and Reports:

R834796 University of Washington Center for Clean Air Research

Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R834796C001 Exposure Mapping – Characterization of Gases and Particles for ExposureAssessment in Health Effects and Laboratory Studies
R834796C002 Simulated Roadway Exposure Atmospheres for Laboratory Animal and Human Studies
R834796C003 Cardiovascular Consequences of Immune Modification by Traffic-Related Emissions
R834796C004 Vascular Response to Traffic-Derived Inhalation in Humans
R834796C005 Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Traffic-Derived Particles and Gases on Subclinical Measures of Cardiovascular Disease in a Multi-Ethnic Cohort

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