Interstate Air Pollution Study—St. Louis Area Air Pollutant Emissions Related to Actual Land Use

The Interstate Air Pollution Study of the St. Louis-East St. Louis Metropolitan Area, conducted in 1963–1964, provided data for this report of air pollutant emissions related to three land-use categories: (1) residential, (2) institutional and commercial, and (3) industrial. A fourth land-use category, transportation and open space, is included in some calculations. The sources of pollutants considered are: (1) power generation, both electric utilities and industrial, (2) fuels used for space heating, (3) solid waste disposal, and (4) industrial processes. The pollutant emissions considered are particulates and sulfur oxides. Cumulative frequency distributions given are based on acres of land use and corresponding emissions per unit area. These frequency distributions—actual emission conditions that can be related to known air quality levels—provide a basis for performance standards and a guide for planners and others in future city developments, not only in St. Louis but in other similar cities as well. A suggested method for determining a different type performance zoning standard is presented. This standard is based on average conditions and thus would supplement, not replace, standards based on maximum allowable emissions. Calculations for such standards relating to St. Louis are presented.     

Air Levels and Mutagenicity of PM-10 in an Indoor Ice Arena

Abstract

Hazardous waste sites and industrial facilities contain area sources of fugitive emissions. Emission rate measurements or estimates are necessary for air pathway assessments for these sources. Emission rate data can be useful for the design of emission control and remediation strategies as well as for predictive modeling for population exposure assessments. This paper describes the use of a direct emission measurement approach – the enclosure approach using an emission isolation flux chamber – to measure emission rates of various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from contaminated soil and water. A variety of flux chamber equipment designs and operating procedures have been employed by various researchers. This paper contains a review of the design and operational variables that affect the accuracy and precision of the method. Guidance is given as to the optimum flux chamber design and operating conditions for various types of emission sources. Also presented is a generic quality control program that gives the minimum number of duplicate, blank, background, and repeat samples that should be performed.     

Formaldehyde,Melhanol and Hydrocarbon Emissions from Methanol-fueled Cars

Exhaust and evaporative emissions tests were conducted on several methanol- and gasoline-fueled vehicles. Separate samples for chromatographlc analysis of formaldehyde, methanol, and Individual hydrocarbons were collected in each of the three phases of the driving cycle and in each of the two portions of the evaporative emissions test. One vehicle, equipped with an experimental variable-fuel engine, was tested using methanol/gasoline fuel mixtures of 100, 85, 50,15, and 0 percent methanol. Combustion-generated hydrocarbons were lowest using methanol fuel, and increased several-fold as the gasoline fraction was increased. Gasoline components In the exhaust Increased from zero as the gasoline fraction of the fuel was Increased. On the other hand, formaldehyde emissions were several times higher using methanol fuel than they were using gasoline. A dedicated methanol car and the variable-fuel car gave similar emissions patterns when they both were tested using methanol fuel. The organic-carbon composition of the exhaust was 85-90 percent methanol, 5-7 percent formaldehyde, and 3-9 percent hydrocarbons. Several cars that were tested using gasoline emitted similar distributions of hydrocarbons, even through the vehicles represented a broad range of current and developmental engine families and emissions control systems. These vehicles continue the trend of the past twenty years toward less photochemically reactive exhaust, with higher percentages of methane and total alkanes, and correspondingly lower percentages of oleflns and aromatlcs.     

1992 Update of U.S. EPA’s Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Emerging Technology Program

The Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Emerging Technology Program (ETP) has encouraged and financially supported further development of bench- and pilot-scale testing and evaluation of innovative technologies suitable for use at hazardous waste sites for five years. The ETP was established under the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986. The ETP complies with the goal of the SITE Program to promote, accelerate and make commercially available the development ofalternative /innovative treatment technologies for use at Superfund sites.

Technologies are submitted to the ETP through yearly solicitations for Preproposals. Following a technical review, chosen applicants are asked to submit a detailed project proposal and a cooperative agreement application that requires Developer I EPA cost sharing. EPA co-funds selected Developers for one to two years. Second-year funding requires documentation of significant progress during the first year. Facilities, equipment, data collection, performance and development are monitored throughout the project. The U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U. S. Air Force (USAF) are participants in the ETP. DOE has co-funded ETP projects since 1990 and the USAF since 1991.

A primary goal of the ETP is to move developed technologies to the field-demonstration stage. Therefore, a developer may be considered for participation in the SITE Demonstration Program provided performance in the ETP indicates the technology is field-ready for demonstration and evaluation.

Six technology categories: biological, chemical, materials handling, physical, solidification/ stabilization and thermal, are presently in the ETP.

Technologies of primary interest to EPA are those that can treat complex mixtures of hazardous organic and inorganic contaminants and provide improved solids handling and/orpretreatment.

An account of the background and progress of the ETP’s first five years is presented in this paper. Technologies currently in the ETP, including those selected from the fifth (EOS) solicitation, are noted, and developers, along with EPA Project Managers, are listed.     

Windsor, Ontario exposure assessment study: design and methods validation of personal, indoor, and outdoor air pollution monitoring

The Windsor, Ontario Exposure Assessment Study evaluated the contribution of ambient air pollutants to personal and indoor exposures of adults and asthmatic children living in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. In addition, the role of personal, indoor, and outdoor air pollution exposures upon asthmatic children's respiratory health was assessed. Several active and passive sampling methods were applied, or adapted, for personal, indoor, and outdoor residential monitoring of nitrogen dioxide, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter (PM; PM-2.5 pm [PM2.5] and < or =10 microm [PM10] in aerodynamic diameter), elemental carbon, ultrafine particles, ozone, air exchange rates, allergens in settled dust, and particulate-associated metals. Participants completed five consecutive days of monitoring during the winter and summer of 2005 and 2006. During 2006, in addition to undertaking the air pollution measurements, asthmatic children completed respiratory health measurements (including peak flow meter tests and exhaled breath condensate) and tracked respiratory symptoms in a diary. Extensive quality assurance and quality control steps were implemented, including the collocation of instruments at the National Air Pollution Surveillance site operated by Environment Canada and at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality site in Allen Park, Detroit, MI. During field sampling, duplicate and blank samples were also completed and these data are reported. In total, 50 adults and 51 asthmatic children were recruited to participate, resulting in 922 participant days of data. When comparing the methods used in the study with standard reference methods, field blanks were low and bias was acceptable, with most methods being within 20% of reference methods. Duplicates were typically within less than 10% of each other, indicating that study results can be used with confidence. This paper covers study design, recruitment, methodology, time activity diary, surveys, and quality assurance and control results for the different methods used.     

Apples, Oranges, and Probabilities: Integrating Multiple Factors into Biodiversity Conservation with Consistency

We explore the problem of integrating some of the many factors involved in conservation planning by focusing on their effects on a common currency of conservation success, the probability of persistence. This approach has the potential to reduce many of the difficulties inherent in combining different pattern and process factors. For handling information expressed as probabilities, five area-selection methods are compared.     

Airborne particulate-associated polyaromatic hydrocarbons,n-alkanes,elemental and organic carbon in three European cities

Total suspended particulate (TSP) samples were collected weekly over a period of one year at four European sites during 1995/6. Two sites were in London-a Central London site (CL, St Paul's Cathedral) and a suburban North London site (NL, Bounds Green); the other two sites were in Porto, Portugal and Vienna, Austria. TSP was collected using a low volume sampler. Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations were measured using a thermal-optical carbon analyser. Parallel samplers collected TSP for subsequent GC-MS analysis of thirty-nine combustion-associated organic compounds; 16 polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and 23 n-alkanes. OC and EC correlate well at all sites (r2 = 0.39-0.65), although the London inter-site correlations were low, suggesting that local sources of OC and EC have a significant influence on local concentrations. Concentrations do not vary widely across the four urban sites, despite the significant differences in urban characteristics. Seasonal patterns of OC:EC ratios were similar at the London and Vienna sites, with highest ratios in autumn and winter, and annual mean OC:EC ratios were identical at these sites. The Carbon Preference Index (CPI) indicated vehicle emissions to have a stronger influence over particulate concentrations at the Vienna and central London sites; there was a stronger biogenic signature in north London and Porto. In addition, two PAH compounds (pyrene and fluoranthene) previously associated with diesel exhaust, were correlated with OC and EC concentrations at the London and Vienna sites.     

Kidney,liver and bone cadmium content in the western sandpiper in relation to migration

Cadmium content was measured in kidney, liver and tarsus bones of western sandpipers (Calidris mauri) at a temperate migratory stopover site (Fraser Delta, British Columbia, Canada) and a wintering site (Playa el Agallito, Chitre, Panama) over a two year period. Cadmium content in liver and kidney was age and sex dependent. Adult females generally had lower kidney and liver cadmium than adult males (P < 0.05), but a sex difference was not detected in juveniles. Cadmium increased with age in kidney, liver and to a lesser extent in bone (P < 0.001) with average "steady-state" kidney and liver content being reached within the sandpipers first year. In general, tissue cadmium residues in adult males and females were independent of sampling location although for bone, site-specific differences did occur (P < 0.001). Bone cadmium was lower in females sampled from their wintering grounds as compared to temperate stopover sites suggesting that bone cadmium may be mobilized during periods of feather molt. Comparison of cadmium residues among sandpipers of increasing age suggest that exposure is occurring along the Pacific Coast, at stopover sites as the birds migrate north to Alaska and south to Panama. This study points to the importance of considering the ecology of the species (e.g., in this case migratory behavior) in interpreting trace metal residues.     

Correcting common misconceptions to inspire conservation action in urban environments

Despite repeated calls to action, proposals for urban conservation are often met with surprise or scepticism. There remains a pervasive narrative in policy, practice, and the public psyche that urban environments, although useful for engaging people with nature or providing ecosystem services, are of little conservation value. We argue that the tendency to overlook the conservation value of urban environments stems from misconceptions about the ability of native species to persist within cities and towns and that this, in turn, hinders effective conservation action. However, recent scientific evidence shows that these assumptions do not always hold. Although it is generally true that increasing the size, quality, and connectivity of habitat patches will improve the probability that a species can persist, the inverse is not that small, degraded, or fragmented habitats found in urban environments are worthless. In light of these findings we propose updated messages that guide and inspire researchers, practitioners, and decision makers to undertake conservation action in urban environments: consider small spaces, recognize unconventional habitats, test creative solutions, and use science to minimize the impacts of future urban development.