US EPA

Measurement and Source Apportionment of Human Exposures to Toxic Air Pollutants in the Minneapolis - St. Paul Metropolitan Area

EPA Grant Number: R825241
Title: Measurement and Source Apportionment of Human Exposures to Toxic Air Pollutants in the Minneapolis - St. Paul Metropolitan Area
Investigators: Pratt, Greg , Marbury, M. , Ramachandran, Gurumurthy , Sexton, Ken , Stock, Tom , Waller, Lance
Current Investigators: Pratt, Greg , Sexton, Ken , Stock, Tom
Institution: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency , Minnesota Department of Health , University of Minnesota
Current Institution: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency , University of Minnesota
EPA Project Officer: Katz, Stacey , Robarge, Gail
Project Period: February 10, 1997 through February 9, 2000 (Extended to February 9, 2001)
Project Amount: $553,658
RFA: Air Quality (1996) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Air

Description:

This research project will take an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to measuring and apportioning the sources of human exposures to an array of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The study will accomplish these objectives by combining a variety of complementary approaches, methods, and techniques, including: (a) a complete emission inventory of point, area, and mobile sources in the Twin Cities metropolitan area; (b) dispersion modeling to estimate ambient VOC and PM10 concentrations in three different communities within the metropolitan area and at 20 individual residences within each community; (c) central-site monitoring in the general metropolitan area to measure ambient VOC and metal concentrations; (d) central-site monitoring in each of three study communities to measure ambient VOC and metal concentrations; and (e) passive monitoring to measure ambient VOC concentrations outside residences, indoor air concentrations inside residences, and personal exposures for 20 people in each of the three study communities. These data will allow us to apportion both the relative contributions to measured personal exposures of indoor versus outdoor concentrations, and the relative contributions to measured ambient concentrations of point, area, and mobile sources. The data will also allow us to test the reliability of central monitors, community monitors, and modeling as predictors of personal exposure. The results from this study will directly improve the realism of health risk assessments for toxic air pollutants and help to inform policy choices about effective (e.g., protective) and efficient (e.g., cost-effective) control strategies. In addition, because we will be measuring exposures to several air toxics simultaneously, the study will provide valuable insights into the potential risks posed by exposures to air pollution mixtures.

Publications and Presentations:

Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 19 publications for this project

Journal Articles:

Journal Articles have been submitted on this project: View all 12 journal articles for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

Health, Scientific Discipline, Air, Geographic Area, air toxics, Environmental Chemistry, State, Risk Assessments, mobile sources, indoor air, Atmospheric Sciences, ambient air quality, Minnesota, air pollutants, dispersion model, ambient monitoring, chemical mixtures, metal concentrations, emissions inventory, human exposure, toxicity, aerosol, indoor air quality, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), human health, atmospheric chemistry, dispersion modeling, emission inventories

Progress and Final Reports:

1997 Progress Report
1998 Progress Report
Final Report