UTICAP:

Understanding Trends in Cincinnatis

Air Pollution
Gabrielle Cook
Medical Sciences
WISE Summer 2015
Department of Biomedical, Chemical, and Environmental
Engineering
Mentor: Sivaraman Balachandran, PhD, PE

What is PM2.5?
EC O
SO EtC
c.
4

PM2.5 is tiny and is made of many

chemical species!
2

Why study PM2.5?

Headache and anxiety (SO2)
Impacts on central nervous
system (PM)

Cardiovascular
diseases (PM,
O3, SO2)

Irritation of eyes, nose, and throat

Breathing problems (PM, O3, NO2, SO2)
Impacts of the respiratory system:
Irritation, inflammation, and
infections
Asthma and reduced lung function
COPD (PM)
Lung cancer (PM, BaP)

Impacts on liver, spleen, and

blood (NO2)

http://www.mfe.govt.nz/

PM2.5 has many adverse health effects and causes

millions of premature deaths worldwide
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Procedures: Part One

13 years raw data
EC,OC, SO4, NO3,
NH4, Metals
Gases
Meteorological Data
Temperature
Pressure
Wind Speed
Wind Direction
4

Annual Taft Data Results

Declined, lowest in 2003, highest in 2005

Steady decline since 2007
Overall decline but still present in 2013
Average Daily PM2.5 Concentration (g/cm3)

20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Elemental Carbon versus

Organic Carbon
Elemental carbon (EC) has
carbon to carbon
bonding

EC O
C
SO4 Etc
.

Richard Wilson, DMD

Organic Carbon (OC) has

oxygen and hydrogen and
other compounds bonded
to carbon

(Levoglucosan)

Both are combustion byproducts

and major components of PM2.5

Elemental Carbon and Organic

Carbon Results
Average Daily OC Concentration (g/cm3)
6
4
2
0

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2011

2012

2013

Average Daily EC Concentration (g/cm3)

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Similar trends: declined, peak in 2005, lowest in 2008

Overall decline but still present today
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Part One Conclusions

PM2.5, Organic Carbon, and Elemental
Carbon appear to be decreasing
Spatially variable, may have local hot
spots
Our focus from here is on Elemental Carbon
Health concerns
Positive global warming potential

Procedures: Part Two

Collected Black Carbon data
BC (optical) vs EC (thermal)

Spot checks around the city walking

Highway commutes driving
Processed with EPAs ONA software

Procedures: Aethalometers
Uses optical absorption to determine the mass
concentration of Black Carbon (BC) in real time

10

Procedures: Part Two

Aethalometer set up in car

Map of neighborhoods and commute

11

Spot Check Hypotheses

Camp Washington will be highest
Near highway and railroad

Mt. Adams will be cleaner than Downtown

Near same highways, higher elevation

12

Spot Check Results and

Conclusions
Mt. Adams is not the cleanest
Proximity to highway
overrules elevation
Camp Washington inconclusive
Processing with EPA ONA
software
Average Daily BC Concentration (ng/cm3)
1000
500
0

Campus

Camp Washington

Downtown

Mt. Adams

-500
-1000

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Commute details
Hypothesis
Interstate 471 will be dirtiest
US 52 will be the cleanest

16 morning, 14 evening
Black Carbon levels should correlate with
traffic

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Commute Results and

Conclusions
I-471 is the dirtiest
US 52 is the cleanest
Suggests BC and
traffic volume are
related
Average Daily BC Concentration (ng/cm3)
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0

US 52

I-275

I-471

Urban Cinci

15

Future Work
Collecting more data
Traffic data
More BC, PM2.5, CO, NOx (i.e. mobile source
indicators)

Modeling
Identify sources of pollution
Estimate spatial variability

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Balachandran
Dr. Urmila Ghia
The WISE Program
Funders:
The University of Cincinnati
Department of Chemical, Biomedical,
Environmental Engineering
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WISE Influence
Built confidence in my research abilities
Introduced me to like-minded
individuals
Future: BS in
Medical
Sciences,
Medical School

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Questions?

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