AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Characterization of Ambient Residential Woodsmoke PM Exposures in Upstate New York
GEORGE ALLEN, NESCAUM
Abstract Number: 461 Working Group: Aerosol Exposure
Abstract Exposures to woodsmoke from residential heating can be a substantial concern in areas where wood stoves and furnaces are a common source of space heating in cold weather seasons. Typical central site urban compliance-oriented monitoring does not provide information on the range of exposures in smaller rural valley towns. To better characterize potential concentrations of ambient woodsmoke PM, two temporary woodsmoke monitoring systems were deployed in yards of houses during the winter of 2014-2015 in Saranac Lake, a small town in upstate New York. One system was run at one location for the duration of the winter, and the other was run for six weeks at each of two other locations. Each system measured PM2.5 (Thermo pDR-1500 nephelometer), black carbon and UV-carbon (Aethalometer), particle bound PAH (Ecochem PAS), and sonic wind speed/direction measurements, all at one-minute intervals. Peak 1-hour PM concentrations up to 400 micrograms/m$^3 were observed; peak concentrations did not occur at the same time across sites, consistent with impact of very local sources. Mean PM ranged from 10 to 13 micrograms/m$^3. Non-WS average PM was estimated to be between 3 and 4 micrograms/m$^3 using Aethalometer data and regression analysis. Non-parametric wind regression was used to determine direction of sources of elevated PM and related pollutants. Two scenarios were observed where PM did track across sites: regional transport events and strong night-time inversion conditions, with PM concentrations of 20 to 30 micrograms/m$^3. Diurnal patterns of particle measurements had peaks overnight and minimums during mid-day, consistent with emission and dispersion daily patterns. Various techniques for communicating potential health risk from sub-daily recurring woodsmoke PM are explored, including the new EPA AIRNow “NowCast” approach.