AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Particulate Matter Exposure and Risk Assessment in Urban and Rural Areas of the San Joaquin Valley
SURESH RAJA, Srikar Middala, Scott Nester, Neelesh Sule, Gary Casuccio, Traci Lersch, Roger R. West, Providence Engineering and Environmental Group
Abstract Number: 3 Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract Accurate characterization and the relative influences of various sources that contribute to particulate matter (PM) mass is a prerequisite for studies on health effects, and to develop effective policies to mitigate health effects of urban air pollution. Spatial heterogeneity of PM chemical constituents is an important factor in studies of both short- and long-term effects. The primary goal of the present study is to better understand the spatial variability of fine-particle exposure, in terms of particle size and composition, in a range of urban and populated rural areas. An important secondary goal is to advance the understanding of emission source categories that contribute to particulate matter air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley. A winter campaign was conducted in the Fresno Metropolitan area to assess the spatial variability of fine particulate matter using passive samplers. Passive samplers were installed at forty one sites in Fresno and Clovis area. After collection, the PM samples were analyzed for chemical components, and particle size and morphology using a computer controlled scanning-electron microscope (CCSEM). Elemental composition of individual particles was then classified using an Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) neural networks algorithm (Carpenter, 1991). Based on particle class memberships, inter-site and intra-Urban variability in PM exposure was analyzed in this work. In addition to this, speciation data is being used to assess differences in health risk across neighborhoods and between communities by empirical estimations. The results from this analysis will then be ranked based on the combination of mass and elemental composition to help conduct risk analysis. In this presentation, we will describe the methods used to determine spatial, and variability of PM composition and its sources. In addition to this, we will also document the intra-urban and inter-community variability in particle type exposures, and associated risk from PM exposures.