Ambient Air Quality Measurement for Policy Decisions

1
Ambient Air Quality Measurement for Policy
Decisions
www.ec.gc.ca
Jeffrey R. Brook
Air Quality Research Division Atmospheric Science
and Technology Branch Environment Canada Toronto,
Canada NERAM V Vancouver Oct. 16-18, 2006
Environnement Environment Canada
Canada
2
What you choose to measure defines what is
important.

• Red Wilson
• former Chairmen of the Board Nortel
• current chair of Executive Committee of AllerGen
  NCE on Genes and the Environment (among other
  things)

3
AQ Measurements define our problems

• Enables determination of Exposure to Effect
  relationships (CRF)
• direct measures of pollutants
• surrogates
• humans, the environment
• Allows development of credible AQ models for
  Emissions to Concentration relationships (ECR)
• Evaluate progress towards meeting goals
• trends
• accountability

4
Theoretical Framework
Emissions
Meteorology
Chemistry
Emissions- Concentration Relationships
Source Apportionment
Observations
Modelling
Atmospheric Concentrations
Risk Management Cycle
Concentration- Response Function
Exposure/Dose Pathways
Health Impacts
Ecological and other Impacts
5
Objective of AQ Risk Management
As efficiently as possible
6
Determine the extent of the impact of human
society
And reduce the impact when necessary as quickly
as necessary
7
Necessity is in the eye of the beholder
8
AQ Measurements

• Inform the public of current and future harmful
  conditions
• Help diagnose the causes of problems
• at the AQ level
• at the effect level (?)
• Spends money (costly)
• Permits field work
• (I.E., keeps us busy)

9
The ability to quantify the levels of pollution
and diagnose the cause is improving on all scales

• Specific measures (quantitative)
• Non-specific measures (qualitative)

Model output
Satellite observations
Measurement networks
Empirical models
10
Public- Information - AIR Now
                                                
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
               
This map shows the highest ozone concentrations
that were reached throughout the region during
the day. It does not represent a snapshot at any
particular time, but is more like the daily high
temperature portion of a weather forecast. The
peaks are based on one hour average
concentrations in parts per billion (ppb) as
shown in the legend
11
Assimilated Ozone Exposures
12
Continentally
Mean May-Sept. 8 hr daily max O3 2004
Now available for 2004-06
13
Globally (from space)
14
Regionally from space
Single day NO2 from OMI (13x24 km)
15
Comparison of Measured and Satellite-Estimated
PM2.5 (17.6 km)
U. S.
Liu, Y., R. J. Park, D. J. Jacob, Q. Li, V.
Kilaru, and J. A. Sarnat (2004), Mapping annual
mean ground-level PM2.5 concentrations using
Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer aerosol
optical thickness over the contiguous United
States, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D22206,
doi10.1029/2004JD005025.
16
(No Transcript)
17
What does this have to do with policy decisions?

• New insights regarding effects
• Need for new or revised policy
• Better estimates of overall risk or burden
• New information on source contributions and
  possibly their individual impacts
• More targeted control measures
• Better information to the public
• Derive new indices for tracking progress

18
Necessity is in the eye of the beholder
19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
"Exposure to traffic" associated with a factor of
2.92 increase in the risk of the onset of a
heartattack within one hour
22
Broad-based evidence demonstrating risk from
traffic pollution

• U.S.
• Boston, Atlanta, Anchorage,
• Canada
• Hamilton, Toronto, Windsor,
• Europe
• UK, Netherlands, Germany, .
• Laboratories
• Current approaches to transportation have
  multiple negative consequences (M.
  Krzyzanowskis puzzle)

23
Traffic is not the whole story

• Wood smoke (Christchurch)
• Coal smoke (Dublin)
• S-in-Fuel at point sources (Hong Kong)
• Steel Mill (Utah Valley)
• Cigarette smoke (Pueblo, Helena)

Tuxedo, NY
24
Complexity of Biological Responses

• Specific and Non-specific
• More than one pollutant can illicit irritation,
  oxidative stress and/or systemic
  inflammatory/immune responses
• Many endpoints
• not all are known
• range of susceptibility right down to genetic
  level
• Is the matter of degree that critical?
• Do mechanisms need to be known better?
• Would more information on the specific exposures
  posing the greatest risk be helpful to AQ risk
  management?

25
AQ Risk Management Challenge to Policy Advisors
and their clients

• Increase dialogue and actions to deal
  more-broadly with transportation issues (AQ)
• Possibly one of the best win-win policy
  directions to pursue (quality of life, fitness,
  climate public health)
• Initiate novel, cost effective, win-win first
  steps to put our growing cities on a sustainable
  path
• Develop the broadest evidence possible of the
  benefits and promote
• Hope for the best (i.e., Hedley et al., previous
  talk)
• Science tools are lacking
• There is a broader link to fossil fuel
  consumption
• more-wise use

26
Formalize and capitalize on the link between
urban, land-use and transportation planning AQ
risk management
27
The key to building an environmentally friendly
city is keeping car journeys to a minimum without
upping the population density.
28
The problems are bigger than traffic in our
neighbourhoods, cities and during our daily
commutes
Think globally, act locally
29
ECO-FOOTPRINT
30
What AQ indicators need to go into measuring the
eco-footprint?

• Ground-level ozone
• Fine particulate matter (PM2.5)
• Primary pollutants, toxics
• NO2
• CO
• VOCs
• POPs
• Metals
• Deposition
• K I S S

31
What you measure defines what is important.

• All of us need to be less concerned with
  measuring what we personally have and more
  concerned with measuring the sustainability of
  our actions (short and long term)