The longitudinal dependence of black carbon concentration on traffic volume in an urban environment

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of traffic volume on ambient black carbon (BC) concentration in an inner-city neighborhood "hot spot" while accounting for modifying effects of weather and time. Continuous monitoring was conducted for 12 months at the Baltimore Traffic Study site surrounded by major urban streets that together carry over 150,000 vehicles per day. Outdoor BC concentration was measured with an Aethalometer; vehicles were counted pneumatically on two nearby streets. Meteorological data were also obtained. Missing data were imputed and all data were normalized to a 5-min observational interval (n = 105,120). Time-series modeling accounted for autoregressively (AR) correlated errors. This study found that outdoor BC was positively correlated at a statistically significant level with neighborhood-level vehicle counts, which contributed at a rate of 66 +/- 10 (SE) ng/m3 per 100 vehicles every 5 min. Winds from the SW-S-SE quarter were associated with the greatest increases in BC (376-612 ng/m3). These winds would have entrained BC from Baltimore's densely trafficked central business district, as well as a nearby interstate highway. The strong influence of wind direction implicates atmospheric transport processes in determining BC exposure. Dew point, mixing height, wind speed, season, and workday were also statistically significant predictors. Background exposure to BC was estimated to be 905 ng/m3. The optimal, statistically significant representation of BC's autocorrelation was AR([1:6]) x 288 x 2016, where the short-term AR factor (lags 1-6) indicated that BC concentrations are correlated for up to 30 min, and the AR factors for lags 288 and 2016 indicate longer-term autocorrelations at diurnal and weekly cycles, respectively. It was concluded that local exposure to BC from mobile sources is substantially modified by meteorological and temporal conditions, including atmospheric transport processes. BC concentration also demonstrates statistically significant autocorrelation at several time scales.     

Assessment of heterogeneity of metal composition of fine particulate matter collected from eight U.S. counties using principal component analysis

The main objectives of this study are to (1) characterize chemical constituents of particulate matter (PM) and (2) compare overall differences in PM collected from eight US. counties. This project was undertaken as a part of a larger research program conducted by the Johns Hopkins Particulate Matter Research Center (JHPMRC). The goal of the JHPMRC is to explore the relationship between health effects and exposure to ambient PM of differing composition. The JHPMRC collected weekly filter-based ambient fine particle samples from eight US. counties between January 2008 and January 2010. Each sampling effort consisted of a 5-6-week sampling period. Filters were analyzed for 25 metals using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Overall compositional differences were ranked by principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed that weekly concentrations of each element varied 3-40 times between the eight counties. PCA showed that the first five principal components explained 85% of the total variance. The authors found significant overall compositional differences in PM as the average of standardized principal component scores differed between the counties. These findings demonstrate PCA is a useful tool to identify the differences in PM compositional mixtures by county. These differences will be helpful for epidemiological and toxicological studies to help explain why health risks associated with PM exposure are different in locations with similar mass concentrations of PM.     

Biodiversity and Conservation of Plants in Brazil

Abstract:  With more than 56,000 species (excluding fungi), Brazil has one of the richest floras in the world—nearly 19% of the world flora. Our knowledge of the diversity and status of nonvascular plants in Brazil is still fragmentary, although localized studies on algae have revealed loss of species resulting from environmental pollution. Emphasis on local floral surveys, rather than wider taxonomic studies, has obscured estimates of national totals for most taxonomic groups. Knowledge of angiosperms, especially monocotyledons (of which 45% of the species are endemic), is more complete than most. For this group figures are more reliable, with some distribution patterns, endemism levels, and centers of diversity identified. Much, however, still awaits discovery. Coordinated efforts to catalog Brazil's flora are in progress and include projects such as the conservation priority-setting workshops of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, which have identified key conservation areas in the major biomes; development of threatened species lists for plants; and the assembly of type data on species of northeastern Brazil through the Darwin Initiative—all of which greatly assist in increasing our knowledge. These initiatives also underline the urgent need to expand the numbers and geographic spread of projects on plant systematics and taxonomy in Brazil, a measure that demands adequate provision of funding and training programs for plant specialists. Finally, Brazil's environmental agency (IBAMA) could play a proactive role in opening protected areas under its jurisdiction, thereby facilitating botanical research by university departments and research institutes.     

ASSAULT PREVENTION AS SOCIAL CONTROL: WOMEN AND SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION ON URBAN COLLEGE CAMPUSES

Sexual assault on U.S.A. college campuses is increasingly recognized as an urgent and pervasive national problem. To prevent assault, school administrators and individual women promote and adopt safety strategies that often compromise women's free and independent use of the campus environment. Such strategies may fail to correspond to the actual nature of sexual assault on campus. Based on open-ended interviews with college personnel and women students, this study examines sexual assault and personal crime prevention strategies at two midwestern, urban universities. School and individual strategies are characterized according to type, goals, and orientation. Findings explore the relationship of strategies to sexual assault on campus, and implications of strategies for women's use of public space. Conclusions suggest means to increase real safety while enhancing women's freedom and mobility on and near campus.     

Ozone exposure among Mexico City outdoor workers

In researching health effects of air pollution, pollutant levels from fixed-site monitors are commonly assigned to the subjects. However, these concentrations may not reflect the exposure these individuals actually experience. A previous study of ozone (O3) exposure and lung function among shoe-cleaners working in central Mexico City used fixed-site measurements from a monitoring station near the outdoor work sites as surrogates for personal exposure. The present study assesses the degree to which these estimates represented individual exposures. In 1996, personal O3 exposures of 39 shoe-cleaners working outdoors were measured using an active integrated personal sampler. Using mixed models, we assessed the relationship between measured personal O3 exposure and ambient O3 measurements from the fixed-site monitoring station. Ambient concentrations were approximately 50 parts per billion higher, on average, than personal exposures. The association between personal and ambient O3 was highly significant (mixed model slope p < 0.0001). The personal/ambient ratio was not constant, so use of the outdoor monitor would not be appropriate to rank O3 exposure and evaluate health effects between workers. However, the strong within-worker longitudinal association validates previous findings associating day-to-day changes in fixed-site O3 levels with adverse health effects among these shoe-cleaners and suggests fixed-site O3 monitors may adequately estimate exposure for other repeated-measure health studies of outdoor workers.     

Comparison of arsenic content in pelletized poultry house waste and biosolids fertilizer

Managers of human biosolids have been incorporating the practice of waste pelletization for use as fertilizer since the mid 1920s, and waste pelletization has recently been embraced by some poultry producers as a way to move nutrients away from saturated agricultural land. However, the presence of arsenic in pelletized poultry house waste (PPHW) resulting from the use of organoarsenical antimicrobial drugs in poultry production raises concerns regarding additional incremental population exposures. Arsenic concentrations were determined in PPHW and pelletized biosolids fertilizer (PBF) samples. Pellets were processed using strong acid microwave digestion and analyzed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy. The mean arsenic concentration in PPHW (20.1 ppm) fell within the lower part of the range of previously report arsenic concentrations in unpelletized poultry house waste. Arsenic concentrations in PBF, the source of which is less clear than for PPHW, were approximately a factor of 5 times lower than those in PPHW, with a mean concentration of 4.1 ppm. The pelletization and sale of these biological waste fertilizers present new pathways of exposure to arsenic in consumer populations who would otherwise not come into contact with these wastes. Arsenic exposures in humans resulting from use of these fertilizer pellets should be quantified to avoid potential unintended negative consequences of managing wastes through pelletization.     

The Impact of a Building Implosion on Airborne Particulate Matter in an Urban Community

Abstract

In response to community concerns, the air quality impact of imploding a 22-story building in east Baltimore, MD, was studied. Time- and space-resolved concentrations of indoor and outdoor particulate matter (PM) (nominally 0.5–10 µm) were measured using a portable nephelometer at seven and four locations, respectively. PM₁₀ levels varied in time and space; there was no measurable effect observed upwind of the implosion. The downwind peak PM₁₀ levels varied with distance (54,000–589 µg/m³) exceeding pre-implosion levels for sites 100 and 1130 m 3000- and 20-fold, respectively. Estimated outdoor 24-hr integrated mass concentrations varied from 15 to 72 µg/m³. The implosion did not result in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM₁₀ being exceeded. X-ray fluorescence analysis indicated that the elemental composition was dominated by crustal elements: calcium (57%), silicon (23%), aluminum (7.6%), and iron (6.1%). Lead was above background but at a low level (0.17 µg/m³). Peak PM₁₀ concentrations were short-lived; most sites returned to background within 15 min. No increase in indoor PM₁₀ was observed even at the most proximate 250 m location. These results demonstrate that a building implosion can have a severe but short-lived impact on community air quality. Effective protection is offered by being indoors or upwind.     

The impact of a building implosion on airborne particulate matter in an urban community

In response to community concerns, the air quality impact of imploding a 22-story building in east Baltimore, MD, was studied. Time- and space-resolved concentrations of indoor and outdoor particulate matter (PM) (nominally 0.5-10 microm) were measured using a portable nephelometer at seven and four locations, respectively. PM10 levels varied in time and space; there was no measurable effect observed upwind of the implosion. The downwind peak PM10 levels varied with distance (54,000-589 microg/m3) exceeding pre-implosion levels for sites 100 and 1130 m 3000- and 20-fold, respectively. Estimated outdoor 24-hr integrated mass concentrations varied from 15 to 72 microg/m3. The implosion did not result in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM10 being exceeded. X-ray fluorescence analysis indicated that the elemental composition was dominated by crustal elements: calcium (57%), silicon (23%), aluminum (7.6%), and iron (6.1%). Lead was above background but at a low level (0.17 microg/m3). Peak PM10 concentrations were short-lived; most sites returned to background within 15 min. No increase in indoor PM10 was observed even at the most proximate 250 m location. These results demonstrate that a building implosion can have a severe but short-lived impact on community air quality. Effective protection is offered by being indoors or upwind.