AAAR 37th Annual Conference October 14 - October 18, 2019 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Temporal Changes in the Per Unit Mass Toxicity of Ambient PM2.5 in New York State
PHILIP K. HOPKE, Daniel Croft, Wangjian Zhang, Shao Lin, Mauro Masiol, Stefania Squizzato, Sally Thurston, Edwin van Wijngaaten, Mark Utell, David Q. Rich, University of Rochester Medical Center
Abstract Number: 6 Working Group: From Aerosol Dosimetry and Toxicology to Health
Abstract From 2005 to 2016, there have been dramatic decreases in PM2.5 and the primary pollutant gases across New York State as a result of regulatory actions and changing economic conditions. The major PM constituents that declined include sulfate, nitrate, elemental carbon (EC), and primary organic carbon (POC). However, ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) have increased in many locations. Source apportionment allows identification of the trends in source-specific PM. Secondary inorganic aerosol types have decreased, but spark-ignition vehicular contributions have increased. Rates of cardiopulmonary and respiratory infectious hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, and New York City over this period have also declined. However, an examination of these associations in 3 time intervals, 2005-07, 2008-13, and 2014-16, showed that for some health outcomes, the excess rates of hospitalization and/or ED visits per unit mass of PM2.5 have increased. When assessing associations between these hospitalization and ED visits and source-specific PM2.5, the apparent change in PM2.5 toxicity is associated with the changing relative proportions of the various source contributions over these time intervals. These results will be presented, and their implications for future regulatory actions to further improve public health, will be discussed.