Air Quality and Human Health in New England:

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Air Quality and Human Health in New England The
NOAA Funded AIRMAP and INHALE Projects
Cameron Wake Institute for the Study of Earth,
Oceans and Space University of New Hampshire
AIRMAP Teachers Workshop 16 April 2004 UNH
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Key Questions
What is air quality? Why does New England have
poor air quality? Why should we care about air
quality? How do we track air quality?
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Ozone Good Up High - Bad Nearby
Ground level ozone is formed via a chemical
reaction
VOCs come primarily from vegetation and
industrial sources. NOx comes from automobiles,
trucks, buses, and power plants.
Ozone pollution is a concern primarily during the
summer months when the weather conditions to form
it (lots of sun and hot temperatures) normally
occur.
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Ozone event in southern New Hampshire in July 2001
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Fine Particles (PM2.5)
Fine particles have diameters less than 2.5
microns. PM2.5 are composed of dust, dirt,
soot, smoke, and liquid droplets.
Fine particles are formed by 1. Direct release
(fires, exhaust, dust) 2. Chemical
reaction SO2VOCNOxNH3Watersunlight PM2.5
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AIRMAP
New England lies directly downwind of major urban
and industrial centers in the eastern United
States.
Map of common storm tracks across the United
States.
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What weather patterns cause high ozone in New
England?
We typically have the worst air quality on the
back side of a high pressure system. Air
circulates clockwise around high pressure systems
in the northern hemisphere. So, when a high
pressure system moves eastward out of New England
(1 July in figure below) it results in the
transport of polluted air into the region from
the mid-west and eastern seaboard.
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Plumes of polluted air take several hours to
travel down the eastern seaboard. Note the times
of maximum ozone concentration in coastal New
Hampshire and Maine during this ozone pollution
episode on 30 June 1997.
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(No Transcript)
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Adult Asthma Prevalence, 2000
New England is a Hot Spot
Figure illustrates Answering "Yes" to "Have you
ever been told by a doctor that you have asthma?"
and "Do you still have Asthma?" Source
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System,
2000 Fastest growing chronic disease in US gt17
million (5 million children)
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Asthma in exercising children exposed to ozone
a cohort study Rob McConnell et al., 2002, THE
LANCET vol. 359
3535 children 12 communites 5 years
Low ozone max 1 hr median 48 ppb High ozone
max 1 hr median 74 ppb
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Public Transportation 216 Traffic Counts -
23 Ozone -30 PM10 -16
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Results Acute Care Visits for Asthma1-16 year
old residents of Atlanta
-11
-42
-19
-44
July 19 August 4, 1996 Source Friedman, et al,
JAMA, 2001
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Results Total Non-Asthma Related Acute Care
Visits1-16 year old residents of Atlanta
July 19 August 4, 1996 Source Friedman, et al,
JAMA, 2001
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Health Effects of Exposure to Ozone and PM2.5
Ozone PM2.5
coughing nose and throat irritation chest
pain reduced lung function increased
susceptibility to respiratory
illness aggravation of asthma children and
people with chronic lung disease are
particularily at risk
increased risk of cardidac arrest and premature
death aggravtion of asthma respiratory
related hospital visits reduced lung function
and chronic bronchitis work and school
absences children and people with chronic lung
disease are particularily at risk
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The EPA has also summarized the health effects of
ozone Real time data www.epa.gov
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AIRMAPMapping New Englands Changing Climate and
Air Quality
AIRMAP Atmospheric Investigation, Regional Modeli
ng, Analysis, and Prediction
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Atmospheric Measurements at AIRMAP Monitoring
Sites
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8 hr Ozone Exceedance Days 1983-2002
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8 hr Ozone vs Tmax 1982-2002
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Real Time Air Quality Data on the Web
http//airmap.unh.edu
EPA National http//www.epa.gov/airnow
/aqimaps.html
EPA Region 1 http//www.epa.gov/region1/aqi/in
dex.html
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AIRMAP Streaming Real Time Air Quality
Data Dimond Library Entrance, UNH
PLUS - Shameless plug for Seacoast Science Center
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Summer 2004 ICARTT Campaign (International
Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport
and Transformations)
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INHALE

• Goal of INHALE project is to improve public
  health by
• Engaging a wide range of stakeholders in a
  collaborative effort to better define the link
  between broad measures of pulmonary health and
  air pollution
• Using the results to create informed public
  policy and guide the product development of the
  NOAA air quality forecasting effort
• Determining the health care costs associated
  with air pollution events

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Tip of the Iceberg
Adverse health effects that could be avoided
every year by meeting the US EPA's daily maximum
ozone standard (80 ppb 8-hr) in New York. Figure
sections not drawn to scale. From Thurston 1997.
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INHALE - Summer 2004

• Pulmonary Function Monitoring in New England
• Sentinel Physician Programs
• Summer University Sport Camps
• Partner Hospitals and Companies
• Scientists at research facilities
• Children at Summer Camps
• Individuals at Retirement Communities

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INHALE - Summer 2004 Pulmonary Function Monitoring
Spirometry Twice daily
Respiratory Symptoms Once daily
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Summer 2004 New England Health Tracking
CampaignProposed Pulmonary Function Testing
Sites