The Effects of Infiltration and Insulation on the Source Strengths and Indoor Air Pollution from Combustion Space Heating Appliances

Many energy conservation strategies for residences involve reducing house air exchange rates. Reducing the air exchange rate of a house can cause an increase in pollutant levels if there is an indoor pollution source and if the indoor pollutant source strength remains constant. However, if the indoor pollutant source strength can also be reduced, then it is possible to maintain or even improve indoor air quality. Increasing the insulation level of a house is a means of achieving energy conservation goals and, in addition, can reduce the need for space heating and thereby reduce the pollutant source strengths of combustion space heaters such as unvented kerosene space heaters, unvented gas space heaters, and wood stoves. In this paper, the indoor air quality trade-off between reduced infiltration and increased insulation in residences is investigated for combustion space heaters. Two similar residences were used for the experiment. One residence was used as a control and the other residence had infiltration and insulation levels modified. An unvented propane space heater was used as the source in this study. A model was developed to describe the dependence of both indoor air pollution levels and the appliance source strengths on house air exchange rates and house insulation levels. Model parameters were estimated by applying regression techniques to the data. Results show that indoor air pollution levels in houses with indoor combustion space heating pollution sources can be held constant (or lowered) by reducing the thermal conductance by an amount proportional to (or greater than) the reduction of the air exchange rate.     

Filtration of Radioactive Aerosols By Glass Fibers

Abstract

An ozone (O₃) exposure assessment study was conducted in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the winter and summer of 1992. A new passive O₃ sampler developed by Harvard was used to measure indoor, outdoor, and personal O₃ concentrations. Measurements were taken weekly and daily during the winter and summer, respectively. Indoor samples were collected at a total of 50 homes and workplaces of study participants. Outdoor O₃ concentrations were measured both at home sites using the passive sampler and at 20 ambient monitoring sites with continuous monitors. Personal O₃ measurements were collected from 123 participants, who also completed detailed time-activity diaries. A total of 2,274 O₃ samples were collected. In addition, weekly air exchange rates of homes were measured.

This study demonstrates the performance of our O₃ sampler for exposure assessment. The data obtained are further used to examine the relationships between personal, indoor (home and workplace), and outdoor O₃ concentrations, and to investigate outdoor and indoor spatial variations in O₃ concentrations. Based on home outdoor and indoor, workplace, and ambient O₃ concentrations measured at the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) sites, the traditional microenvironmental model predicts 72% of the variability in measured personal exposures. An alternative personal O₃ exposure model based on outdoor measurements and time-activity information is able to predict the mean personal exposures in a large population, with the highest R² value of 0.41.     

Evaluation of Regenerative-air Vacuum Street Sweeping on Geological Contributions to PM10

Street sweeping is often proposed as a means of reducing the emissions from paved roads. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of street sweeping on ambient particulate matter concentrations and to determine the difference In source contributions to PM10 concentrations between street sweeping and non-street sweeping periods.

Chemically-speciated measurements of PM10 and PM2.5 were taken in the commercial section of Reno, Nevada, for a one-month sampling period. The Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) model was applied to these data and an average of approximately 50 percent of the PM10 was apportioned to resuspended geological material. During half of the sampling period, streets In the vicinity of the sampling site were completely swept with a regenerative-air vacuum sweeper, while no sweeping was performed during the remainder of the experiment. Ratios of primary geological contributions divided by primary motor vehicle contributions to PM10 were compared between sweeping and non-sweeping periods using analysis of variance. This ratio of source contributions minimizes the effects of variations in traffic volume and meteorological dispersion. No significant differences in geological contributions to PM10 were detected as a result of regenerative-air vacuum street sweeping.     

Hydrocarbon Measurements During the 1992 Southern Oxidants Study Atlanta Intensive: Protocol and Quality Assurance

Abstract

A major component of the Southern Oxidants Study (SOS) 1992 Atlanta Intensive was the measurement of atmospheric nonmethane hydrocarbons. Ambient air samples were collected and analyzed by a network of strategically located automated gas chromatography (GC) systems (field systems). In addition, an extensive canister sampling network was deployed. Combined, more than 3000 chromatograms were recorded. The SOS science team targeted for quantitative analysis 56 compounds which may be substantial contributors to ozone formation or used as air mass tracers. A quality assurance program was instituted to ensure that good measurements were being made throughout the network for each target compound. Common, high-quality standards were used throughout the network. The performance of individual field systems was evaluated during the intensive through the analysis of challenge mixtures. This methodology helped to identify and correct analytical problems as they arose.     

Controlled Exposures of Volunteers to Respirable Carbon and Sulf uric Acid Aerosols

Respirable carbon or fly ash particles are suspected to increase the respiratory toxicity of coexisting acidic air pollutants, by concentrating acid on their surfaces and so delivering it efficiently to the lower respiratory tract. To investigate this issue, we exposed 15 healthy and 15 asthmatic volunteers in a controlled- environment chamber (21°C, 50 percent relative humidity) to four test atmospheres: (i) clean air; (ii) 0.5-μm H2SO4 aerosol at =100 μg/m³, generated from water solution; (iii) 0,5-μm carbon aerosol at =250 μg/m³, generated from highly pure carbon black with specific surface area comparable to ambient pollution particles; and (iv) carbon as in (iii) plus =100 μg/m³ of ultrafine H2SO4 aerosol generated from fuming sulfuric acid. Electron microscopy showed that nearly all acid in (iv) became attached to carbon particle surfaces, and that most particles remained in the sub-μm size range. Exposures were performed double-blind, 1 week apart. They lasted 1 hr each, with alternate 10-min periods of heavy exercise (ventilation =50 L/min) and rest. Subjects gargled citrus juice before exposure to suppress airway ammonia. Lung function and symptoms were measured pre-exposure, after initial exercise, and at endexposure. Bronchial reactivity to methacholine was measured after exposure. Statistical analyses tested for effects of H₂SO₄ or carbon, separate or interactive, on health measures. Group data showed no more than small equivocal effects of any exposure on any health measure. One individual's responses were consistent with a clinically significant excess airway constriction from H₂SO₄ plus carbon, and 2-3 others showed slight excess responses to the combined pollutants, but all these observations might have reflected chance variations. We conclude that coexisting carbon aerosol did not increase respiratory irritancy of H₂SO₄, in most healthy and asthmatic subjects exposed for 1 hr under simulated "worst-case" ambient conditions.     

Economic Benefits of Improvements in Visibility: Acid Rain Provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments

The Acid Rain Provisions (Title IV) of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 call for about a 10 million ton reduction in annual SO₂ emissions in the United States. Although the provisions apply nationwide, most of the reduction will occur in the eastern half of the country, where use of high-sulfur coal for electricity generation is most common. One potentially large benefit of Title IV is the expected improvement in visibility conditions in the eastern United States due to the reductions in secondary sul-fate aerosols. This paper combines available economic estimates of willingness to pay for improvements in visibility with current estimates of the difference between expected visibility conditions in the eastern United States with and without Title I V, to estimate the expected visibility benefits of Title IV. The results suggest an annual value of $2.3 billion (in 1994 dollars) in the year 2010, as a result of visibility improvements due to Title IV in residential areas of the eastern United States. The results also suggest a possible additional annual value for eastern U.S. residents of as much as $1-2 billion for visibility improvements at national parks in the Southeast.     

Application of a Three-Layer Photochemical Box Model in an Athens Street Canyon

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to show that a photochemical box model could describe the air pollution diurnal profiles within a typical street canyon in the city of Athens. As sophisticated three-dimensional dispersion models are computationally expensive and they cannot serve to simulate pollution levels in the scale of an urban street canyon, a suitably modified three-layer photochemical box model was applied. A street canyon of Athens with heavy traffic was chosen to apply the aforementioned model. The model was used to calculate pollutant concentrations during two days with meteorological conditions favoring pollutant accumulation. Road traffic emissions were calculated based on existing traffic load measurements. Meteorological data, as well as various pollutant concentrations, in order to compare with the model results, were provided by available measurements. The calculated concentrations were found to be in good agreement with measured concentration levels and show that, when traffic load and traffic composition data are available, this model can be used to predict pollution episodes. It is noteworthy that high concentrations persisted, even after additional traffic restriction measures were taken on the second day because of the high pollution levels.