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Role of secondary organic aerosol in cardiovascular and respiratory disease deaths
Citation:
Pye, H., C. Ward-Caviness, K. Seltzer, B. Murphy, AND Keith Wyat Appel. Role of secondary organic aerosol in cardiovascular and respiratory disease deaths. AAAR Fall Meeting, Raleigh, NORTH CAROLINA, October 05 - 09, 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 (e.g oxidation of monoterpenes, isoprene, and anthropogenic volatile organic compounds) allows for examination of the role of OA components in cardiovascular and respiratory disease deaths not previously available. Results highlight the role of OA in 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. As a result, total mass is regulated in the United States by the Clean Air Act and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). 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). A significant fraction of this OA is formed in the atmosphere and is thus called secondary organic aerosol (SOA). SOA is produced throughout the year and is a major component of total OA even in urban locations. The shift in PM2.5 composition towards OA, as well as advances in modeling of SOA formation pathways (e.g oxidation of monoterpenes, isoprene, and anthropogenic volatile organic compounds) allows for examination of SOA components not previously available due to the lack of robust prediction algorithms and dominance of other components. In this work, we use concentrations of PM2.5 constituents from the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system v5.3 (ww.epa.gov/cmaq) to examine the relationship between PM2.5 OA components and total cardiovascular and respiratory disease deaths. Using county-level data from the Centers for Disease Control on the cardiovascular mortality rate, we model changes in mortality rates by county as a function of OA and SOA in PM2.5 while adjusting for a broad array of relevant confounders. Results highlight the role of OA in cardiovascular and respiratory disease deaths in the 2016 United States atmosphere.
