Citation:

Pye, H. Using Atmospheric Chemistry to Improve Public Health (McGill University). McGill University Department Seminar, Virtual, Virtual, November 15, 2021.

Impact/Purpose:

Fine particle (PM2.5) pollution causes premature mortality but the role of individual components of PM2.5 in adverse health outcomes is not well documented. This work shows that the secondary organic aerosol (SOA) component of PM2.5 is associated with higher levels of cardiorespiratory mortality than total PM2.5 mass and reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions is estimated to be particularly effective at reducing mortality in the U.S. Volatile chemical products are one sector where VOCs could be reduced with implications for SOA and mortality.

Description:

Fine particulate matter in air, PM2.5, is associated with adverse health outcomes including cardiorespiratory disease death. 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.

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