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Composition and Source Characterization of Aerosols in an Environmental Justice (EJ) Community in California (Wilmington)
HOSSEIN PAZOOKI, Pami Mukherjee, Mohammad Sowlat, Payam Pakbin, Roya Bahreini, University of California, Riverside
Abstract Number: 621
Working Group: Environmental Justice: Technology, Frameworks, and Outcomes
Abstract
Following the enactment of the Assembly Bill (AB) 617, California Air Resources Board (CARB) established the Community Air Protection Program (CAPP), aiming to reduce exposure in communities disproportionately impacted by air pollution. As parts of efforts to better characterize emission sources in Southern California Air Basin (SCAB), and through a collaborative study with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, a series of aerosol measurements were conducted in Wilmington, an EJ community in the SCAB selected under the AB 617 program, for three weeks during Fall 2019. The site was selected to examine the influence of nearby oil refineries, major highways, and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on local air quality. Temporal concentration changes of various aerosol species were measured using a Compact Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (m-AMS, Aerodyne Research Inc.). The results showed that during the measurement period, the non-refractory composition of submicron aerosols was dominated by organics (average of 12.64 µg/m3), followed by nitrate (5.16 µg/m3) and sulfate (2.8 µg/m3). Considering the ratios of m/z 43 and m/z 44 fragments to the total organics, the site was influenced predominantly by fresh hydrocarbon-like and slightly oxygenated organic species. Results from Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) will be presented to further examine the composition of organics during different meteorological conditions and under the influence of different source regions. Specifically, organic and inorganic (e.g., sulfate) composition during times with a direct influence from the nearby oil refinery will be compared with those of other wind sectors to determine the direct influence of the refinery’s emissions on local aerosols.