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Using atmospheric chemistry to improve public health
Citation:
Pye, H. Using atmospheric chemistry to improve public health. University of Florida Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, virtual, Florida, March 05, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
SOA is strongly associated with mortality independent of total PM2.5 mass, and spatial variability in SOA across the U.S. is associated with a larger increase in cardiorespiratory mortality rates than total PM2.5. VOC emission reductions offer an opportunity to further reduce health impacts of anthropogenic activity beyond those already realized for SOx and NOx emission reductions.
Description:
Fine particulate matter in air, PM2.5, is associated with negative health outcomes including cardiorespiratory 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, the role of SOA and its components in cardiorespiratory disease death rates can be examined in a way not previously possible. In this work, PM2.5 constituent concentrations from the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system along with county-level data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were used to examine the relationship between PM2.5 components and cardiorespiratory disease deaths. We find SOA is strongly associated with mortality independent of total PM2.5 mass, and spatial variability in SOA across the U.S. is associated with a larger increase in cardiorespiratory mortality rates than total PM2.5. Using this new information, we examine the effectiveness of different precursor emission controls on reducing air pollution associated mortality in the U.S.