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2020 CMAS Conference: Role of secondary organic aerosol in cardiovascular and respiratory disease mortality in the United States
Citation:
Pye, H., C. Ward-Caviness, B. Murphy, Keith Wyat Appel, AND K. Seltzer. 2020 CMAS Conference: Role of secondary organic aerosol in cardiovascular and respiratory disease mortality in the United States. CMAS Conference, Chapel Hill, NORTH CAROLINA, October 26 - 30, 2020.
Impact/Purpose:
Over the past few decades, the composition of PM2.5 in the United States has undergone significant changes including a decrease in sulfate and increase in relative abundance of organic aerosol (OA). The shift in PM2.5 composition towards OA, as well as advances in modeling of OA formation pathways allows for examination of the role of OA components in cardiovascular and respiratory disease deaths not previously possible. Results highlight the association of secondary organic aerosol with cardiovascular and respiratory disease deaths in the present-day United States atmosphere.
Description:
Fine particulate matter, PM2.5, is associated with negative health outcomes including cardiovascular and respiratory disease deaths. Over the past few decades, the composition of PM2.5 in the United States has undergone significant changes including a decrease in sulfate and increase in relative abundance of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Combined with advances in modeling of SOA formation pathways (e.g oxidation of monoterpenes, isoprene, and anthropogenic volatile organic compounds) the role of SOA and its components in cardiovascular and respiratory disease death rates can be examined in a way not previously possible. In this work, we use PM2.5 constituent concentrations from the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system v5.3.1 (ww.epa.gov/cmaq) to examine the relationship between PM2.5 organic aerosol (OA) components and combined cardiovascular and respiratory disease deaths. Using county-level data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we associated county-level cardiorespiratory mortality rates with SOA while adjusting for a broad array of relevant confounders. We find SOA is strongly associated with mortality independent of total PM2.5 mass. Spatial variability in SOA across the U.S. is associated with a larger increase (per unit mass) in cardiorespiratory mortality rates than total PM2.5; with the largest associations of SOA with mortality coming from counties in the southeastern U.S. Results indicate biogenic and anthropogenic carbon sources both play a role in the overall SOA association.
