Browsing by Subject "Community science"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Analysing Urban Air Pollution Using Low-Cost Methods and Community Science
    (2022-12) Heintzelman, Asrah; Filippelli, Gabriel; Moreno-Madriñan, Max J.; Wilson, Jeffrey S.; Wang, Lixin; Druschel, Gregory K.
    Rise in air pollution resulting in negative health externalities for humans has created an urgent need for cities and communities to monitor it regularly. At present we have insufficient ground passive and active monitoring networks in place which presents a huge challenge. Satellite imagery has been used extensively for such analysis, but its resolution and methodology present other challenges in estimating pollution burden. The objective of this study was to propose three low-cost methods to fill in the gaps that exist currently. First, EPA grade sensors were used in 11 cities across the U.S. to examine NO2. This is a simplistic way to assess the burden of air pollution in a region. However, this technique cannot be applied to fine scale analysis, which resulted in the next two components of this research study. Second, a citizen science network was established on the east side of Indianapolis, IN who hosted 32 Ogawa passive sensors to examine NO2 and O3 at a finer scale. These low-cost passive sensors, not requiring power, and very little maintenance, have historically tracked very closely with Federal Reference Monitors. Third, a low-cost PurpleAir PA-II-SD active sensors measuring PM2.5 were housed with the citizen scientists identified above. This data was uploaded via Wi-Fi and available via a crowd sourced site established by PurpleAir. These data sets were analyzed to examine the burden of air pollution. The second and third research studies enabled granular analyses utilizing citizen science, tree canopy data, and traffic data, thus accommodating some of the present limitations. Advancement in low-cost sensor technology, along with ease of use and maintenance, presents an opportunity for not just communities, but cities to take charge of some of these analyses to help them examine health equity impacts on their citizens because of air pollution.
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    Predictive modeling of indoor dust lead concentrations: Sources, risks, and benefits of intervention
    (Elsevier, 2023) Dietrich, Matthew; Barlow, Cynthia F.; Entwistle, Jane A.; Meza-Figueroa, Diana; Dong, Chenyin; Gunkel-Grillon, Peggy; Jabeen, Khadija; Bramwell, Lindsay; Shukle, John T.; Wood, Leah R.; Naidu, Ravi; Fry, Kara; Taylor, Mark Patrick; Filippelli, Gabriel M.; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Science
    Lead (Pb) contamination continues to contribute to world-wide morbidity in all countries, particularly low- and middle-income countries. Despite its continued widespread adverse effects on global populations, particularly children, accurate prediction of elevated household dust Pb and the potential implications of simple, low-cost household interventions at national and global scales have been lacking. A global dataset (∼40 countries, n = 1951) of community sourced household dust samples were used to predict whether indoor dust was elevated in Pb, expanding on recent work in the United States (U.S.). Binned housing age category alone was a significant (p < 0.01) predictor of elevated dust Pb, but only generated effective predictive accuracy for England and Australia (sensitivity of ∼80%), similar to previous results in the U.S. This likely reflects comparable Pb pollution legacies between these three countries, particularly with residential Pb paint. The heterogeneity associated with Pb pollution at a global scale complicates the predictive accuracy of our model, which is lower for countries outside England, the U.S., and Australia. This is likely due to differing environmental Pb regulations, sources, and the paucity of dust samples available outside of these three countries. In England, the U.S., and Australia, simple, low-cost household intervention strategies such as vacuuming and wet mopping could conservatively save 70 billion USD within a four-year period based on our model. Globally, up to 1.68 trillion USD could be saved with improved predictive modeling and primary intervention to reduce harmful exposure to Pb dust sources.
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    Using community science for detailed pollution research: a case-study approach in Indianapolis, IN, USA
    (Springer, 2023-01) Dietrich, Matthew; Rader, Shelby T.; Filippelli, Gabriel M.; Earth Science, School of Science
    Heavy metal contamination in urban environments, particularly lead (Pb) pollution, is a health hazard both to humans and ecological systems. Despite wide recognition of urban metal pollution in many cities, there is still relatively limited research regarding heavy metal distribution and transport at the household-scale between soils and indoor dusts-the most important scale for actual human interaction and exposure. Thus, using community-scientist-generated samples in Indianapolis, IN (USA), we applied bulk chemistry, Pb isotopes, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to illustrate how detailed analytical techniques can aid in interpretation of Pb pollution distribution at the household-scale. Our techniques provide definitive evidence for Pb paint sourcing in some homes, while others may be polluted with Pb from past industrial/vehicular sources. SEM revealed anthropogenic particles suggestive of Pb paint and the widespread occurrence of Fe-rich metal anthropogenic spherules across all homes, indicative of pollutant transport processes. The variability of Pb pollution at the household scale evident in just four homes is a testament to the heterogeneity and complexity of urban pollution. Future urban pollution research efforts would do well to utilize these more detailed analytical methods on community-sourced samples to gain better insight into where the Pb came from and how it currently exists in the environment. However, these methods should be applied after large-scale pollution screening techniques such as portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF), with more detailed analytical techniques focused on areas where bulk chemistry alone cannot pinpoint dominant pollution mechanisms and where community scientists can also give important metadata to support geochemical interpretations.
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    Using community science for detailed pollution research: A case-study approach in Indianapolis, IN, USA
    (Springer Nature, 2022-11-21) Dietrich, Matthew; Rader, Shelby; Filippelli, Gabriel; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Science
    Heavy metal contamination in urban environments, particularly lead (Pb) pollution, is a health hazard both to humans and ecological systems. Despite wide recognition of urban metal pollution in many cities, there is still relatively limited research regarding heavy metal distribution and transport at the household-scale between soils and indoor dusts-the most important scale for actual human interaction and exposure. Thus, using community-scientist-generated samples in Indianapolis, IN (USA), we applied bulk chemistry, Pb isotopes, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to illustrate how detailed analytical techniques can aid in interpretation of Pb pollution distribution at the household-scale. Our techniques provide definitive evidence for Pb paint sourcing in some homes, while others may be polluted with Pb from past industrial/vehicular sources. SEM revealed anthropogenic particles suggestive of Pb paint and the widespread occurrence of Fe-rich metal anthropogenic spherules across all homes, indicative of pollutant transport processes. The variability of Pb pollution at the household scale evident in just four homes is a testament to the heterogeneity and complexity of urban pollution. Future urban pollution research efforts would do well to utilize these more detailed analytical methods on community-sourced samples to gain better insight into where the Pb came from and how it currently exists in the environment. However, these methods should be applied after large-scale pollution screening techniques such as portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF), with more detailed analytical techniques focused on areas where bulk chemistry alone cannot pinpoint dominant pollution mechanisms and where community scientists can also give important metadata to support geochemical interpretations.