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2001 Progress Report: Relationship between Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air (RIOPA). Part II: Analyses of Concentrations of Particulate Matter Species

EPA Grant Number: R828678C006
Subproject: this is subproject number 006 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R824834
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC)
Center Director: Beskid, Craig
Title: Relationship between Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air (RIOPA). Part II: Analyses of Concentrations of Particulate Matter Species
Investigators: Weisel, Clifford P. , Colome, Steven D. , Morandi, Maria T. , Spektor, Dalia , Stock, Tom , Turpin, Barbara , Zhang, Junfeng
Institution: Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute , University of Texas at Houston
Current Institution: Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute , Integrated Environmental Sciences , University of Texas at Houston
EPA Project Officer: Stacey Katz/Gail Robarge,
Project Period: January 1, 1997 through January 31, 2005
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 2000 through January 31, 2001
RFA: Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC) (1997)
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Targeted Research

Description:

Objective:

This project was initiated in December 1997, under a previous EPA grant (Grant No. R824834C006), and it will be continued under this follow-on grant. The Relationship Between Indoor, Outdoor, and Personal Air (RIOPA) study was funded by the National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC) in response to RFA 96-01. The project now is jointly funded by the Health Effects Institute (HEI), and has become a large urban air toxics study. The project is comprised of three studies initially independently funded:

· A study funded by NUATRC with Dr. Clifford Weisel at EOHSI as Principal Investigator;

· A study funded by HEI with Dr. Jim Zhang of EOHSI as Principal Investigator; and

· A study funded by HEI with Dr. Barbara Turpin of Rutgers University as Principal Investigator.

Because the two HEI studies complemented and added to the initial study funded by NUATRC, staff from both organizations attempted to treat the three studies as one so that the results will be reported in a coherent way.

The RIOPA project is testing the hypothesis that personal exposure to air toxics is influenced by outdoor sources of these air toxics. The major hypotheses tested are:

· A measurable and significant portion of the indoor air concentrations, personal exposures, and breath concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), aldehydes, and respirable particulate matter (PM2.5) are contributed by outdoor sources; and

· Residential air exchange rates (AER) are a major determinant of the influence of outdoor air concentration on indoor air and personal exposure.

A secondary objective of the study is to make paired measurements in the adults (100 per city) and children (50 per city) to determine whether air toxic exposure estimates of adults could be used for children.

The study involves 100 homes and 150 individuals (100 adults and 50 children) in each of the three urban centers with different air pollution source profiles: Los Angeles, CA, dominated by mobile sources; Houston, TX, dominated by industrial point sources; and Elizabeth, NJ, which includes a mixture of mobile and point sources.

The study measures indoor and outdoor air concentrations of VOCs, aldehydes, PM2.5, and AER, as well as personal exposure in adults and children, in a set of two 48-hour sampling periods in the three distinct urban centers. In-vehicle exposure to aldehydes will be measured for residents of these homes. In addition, the fine particulate matter will be speciated for chemical composition and source apportionment.

Two major specific objectives of the project are to:

· Estimate the fraction that outdoor sources contribute to indoor and personal air concentrations of VOCs, aldehydes, and PM2.5 in three distinct major urban centers: Los Angeles, CA, Houston, TX, and Elizabeth/Bayonne, NJ; and

· Estimate the exposures to populations living in the three urban centers from outdoor toxic air emissions, using:

1. Outdoor concentrations and AER reported in the literature for these areas, and

2. Relationships among indoor, outdoor, and personal concentrations and AER determined in this study.

Progress Summary:

The study is in compliance with the Institutional Review Boards of the University of Dentistry and Medicine of New Jersey (UDMNJ), Rutgers University, and the University of Texas. Human consent procedures meet governmental guidelines. The study has provided and is following appropriate quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures.

All fieldwork was completed by February 2001. Sample analyses were completed in March through May 2001. In June 2001, an Interim Report responding to the HEI-NUATRC panel’s comments of the revised data analysis plan was received. A final report containing data on VOCs, aldehydes, and PM2.5 was completed November 2001; This report is undergoing review and revision.

Future Activities:

The draft final report will be reviewed by a team of external peer reviewers. These reviews will be evaluated by a HEI-NUATRC Special Panel. The panel’s comments will be presented to the investigators and the final report will be revised as needed.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 27 publications for this subproject

Supplemental Keywords:

air pollution, urban, exposure, volatile organic compounds, VOCs, particulate matter, PM2.5, indoor air, monitoring. , HUMAN HEALTH, POLLUTANTS/TOXICS, Air, Scientific Discipline, Health, RFA, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, Biology, Risk Assessments, Health Risk Assessment, Physical Processes, air toxics, Chemicals, Atmospheric Sciences, particulate matter, Environmental Chemistry, Exposure, Air Pollution, chemical mixtures, airborne urban contaminants, acute exposure, Acute health effects, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), residential air exchange rates, fine particles, industrial air pollution, human health risk, lung inflammation, air pollutants, chronic health effects, PM 2.5, acute lung injury, atmospheric chemistry, inhaled, atmospheric particulate matter, copollutant exposures, human exposure, indoor/outdoor relationships
Relevant Websites:

Previously Funded Project: R824834C006

Progress and Final Reports:
Original Abstract
2002 Progress Report
2003 Progress Report
2004 Progress Report
2005 Progress Report
2006 Progress Report
2007 Progress Report


Main Center Abstract and Reports:
R824834    Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC)

Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R824834C001 Air Toxics Exposures Among Teenagers in New York City and Los Angeles - A Columbia-Harvard Study (TEACH)
R824834C002 Cardiopulmonary Response to Particulate Exposure
R824834C003 VOC Exposure in an Industry Impacted Community
R824834C004 A Study of Personal Exposure to Air Toxics Among a Subset of the Residential U.S. Population (VOC Project)
R824834C005 Methods Development Project for a Study of Personal Exposures to Toxic Air Pollutants
R824834C006 Relationship Between Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air (RIOPA)
R824834C007 Development of the "Leland Legacy" Air Sampling Pump
R824834C008 Source Apportionment of Indoor Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Urban Residences
R824834C009 Development of a Personal Cascade Impactor Sampler (PCIS)
R824834C010 Testing the Metals Hypothesis in Spokane
R828678C001 Air Toxics Exposures Among Teenagers in New York City and Los Angeles—A Columbia-Harvard Study (TEACH)
R828678C002 Cardiopulmonary Effects of Metal-Containing Particulate Exposure
R828678C003 VOC Exposure in an Industry Impacted Community
R828678C004 A Study of Personal Exposure to Air Toxics Among a Subset of the Residential U.S. Population (VOC Project)
R828678C005 Oxygenated Urban Air Toxics and Asthma Variability in Middle School Children: A Panel Study (ATAC–Air Toxics and Asthma in Children)
R828678C006 Relationship between Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air (RIOPA). Part II: Analyses of Concentrations of Particulate Matter Species
R828678C007 Development of the “Leland Legacy” Air Sampling Pump
R828678C008 Source Apportionment of Indoor PAHs in Urban Residences 98-03B
R828678C009 Development of a Personal Cascade Impactor Sampler (PCIS)
R828678C010 Testing the Metals Hypothesis in Spokane
R828678C011 A Pilot Geospatial Analysis of Exposure to Air Pollutants (with Special Attention to Air Toxics) and Hospital Admissions in Harris County, Texas
R828678C012 Impact of Exposure to Urban Air Toxics on Asthma Utilization for the Pediatric Medicaid Population in Dearborn, Michigan
R828678C013 Field Validation of the Sioutas Sampler and Leland Legacy Pump – Joint Project with EPA’s Environmental Technology Validation Program (ETV)
R828678C014 Performance Evaluation of the 3M Charcoal Vapor Monitor for Monitor Low Ambient Concentrations of VOCs
R828678C015 RIOPA Database Development
R828678C016 Contributions of Outdoor PM Sources to Indoor and Personal Exposures: Analysis of PM Species Concentrations” Focused on the PM Speciation and Apportioning of Sources
R828678C017 The Short and Long-Term Respiratory Effects of Exposure to PAHs from Traffic in a Cohort of Asthmatic Children

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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