10th International Aerosol Conference
September 2 - September 7, 2018
America's Center Convention Complex
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Abstract View


Spatially-Resolved Comparison of Traffic and Cooking-Related PM1 Emission in Urban Area and Their Threat to Public Health

Peishi Gu, Zhongju Li, Qing Ye, Ellis Shipley Robinson, Joshua Apte, Allen Robinson, ALBERT PRESTO, Carnegie Mellon University

     Abstract Number: 493
     Working Group: Aerosol Exposure

Abstract
Spatial gradients of PM1 concentration (particulate matter under 1 mm in diameter) have been discovered near local sources, such as highways and restaurants, etc. The population that lives or works in these impacted regions is often exposed to higher than background PM concentration, and this may increase their short-term and long-term health risks. From a perspective of regulation, it is essential to understand what sources are responsible for the elevated concentration, and how are population impacted by the sources spatially. In this study, we have utilized a mobile sampling platform coupled with HR-ToF-AMS and Aethalometer to investigate the spatial distribution of PM1 in Pittsburgh, which is a major city in the northeastern United States. We performed extensive mobile measurement in areas of various types of land-use. Cooking and traffic-related organic aerosol (OA) were resolved as the major primary sources by positive matrix factorization (PMF). We included the spatially resolved statistics of traffic volume, restaurant counts and population, and performed GIS analysis based on a 200-meter grid overlay on the sampling domain. We have found that more than 80% of the population is located within the 200-meter range of identified local sources, and the existence of such sources are strongly associated with the elevated PM1 concentration. For OAs, cooking is more important compared to traffic as a primary source, based on both the concentration and the impacted population. However, since diesel engines dominate the emission of black carbon in urban areas, traffic source still poses a greater threat to public health than cooking.