Characterization of Metals in Communities at the Fenceline of an Industrial Corridor in Louisiana Using Size-Resolved Filter Measurements and Mobile Monitoring
AMIRA YASSINE, Mina Tehrani, Shivang Agarwal, Edward Fortner, Ellis Robinson, Benjamin Werden, Megan Claflin, Ana Rule, Peter F. DeCarlo,
Johns Hopkins University Abstract Number: 705
Working Group: Aerosol Exposure
AbstractExposure to metals in aerosol particles emitted from industrial activities can pose serious adverse effects to humans. The St. James, St. John the Baptist, and Ascension Parishes areas in Louisiana, are located 40 miles of South Baton Rouge and are one of the most densely populated industrial corridors in the US. These areas have been under rising scrutiny due to environmental justice concerns. Reported fenceline communities’ exposures in these areas are based on EPA models which feature the facilities' self-reported release data.
During a 4-week sampling campaign in February 2023, metal concentrations in particulate matter were determined in St. James, St. John the Baptist, and Ascension Parishes areas in Louisiana. Two complementary approaches for the determination of 19 metals were used: online measurements of total PM
2.5 metal concentrations around these areas were conducted using a real-time Cooper x-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrument and fixed site size resolved measurements of metals in PM were conducted using a micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor (MOUDI) filter collection followed by offline analysis using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
ICP-MS measurements of size resolved toxic trace elements showed that arsenic, lead, antimony, and vanadium were at the highest concentrations in fine PM with mean concentrations of 0.18, 0.51, 0.26, 0.44 ng/m
3 respectively. Furthermore, the comparison of total concentration of trace elements between the XRF measurements and the MOUDI-ICP-MS measurements showed that a strong agreement exist between the two approaches for vanadium, arsenic, and lead where regression slopes of 0.7, 1.0, 1.0, and high spearman R values: 0.93, 0.90, 0.70, were found for vanadium, arsenic, and lead respectively.
These results suggest that supplementary monitoring of metals in industrial regions continuously and at high time resolution is an important first step towards protecting human health and reducing exposures.