Data from two of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's speciation trends network fine particulate matter sites within Chicago, Illinois were analyzed using the chemical mass balance ...(CMB) and positive matrix factorization (PMF) models to determine source contributions to the ambient fine particulate concentrations. The results from the two models were compared to determine the similarities and differences in the source contributions. This included examining the differences in the magnitude of the individual source contributions as well as the correlation between the contribution values from the two methods. The results showed that both models predicted sulfates, nitrates and motor vehicles as the three highest fine particle contributors for the two sites accounting for approximately 80% of the total. The PMF model attributed a slightly greater amount of fine particulate to the road salt, steel and soil sources while vegetative burning contributed more in the CMB results. Correlations between the contribution results from the two models were high for sulfates, nitrates and road salt with very good correlations existing for motor vehicles and petroleum refineries. The predicted PMF profiles agreed well with measured source profiles for the major species associated with each source.
A chemical mass balance model developed by the U.S. EPA, CMB8.2, was used to apportion the major sources of PAHs found in the sediments of Lake Calumet and surrounding wetlands in southeast Chicago. ...The results indicate the feasibility of applying CMB8.2 to pollutants found in aquatic sediments. To establish the fingerprints of PAH sources, 28 source profiles were collected from the literature. Some of the source profiles were modified based on the gas/particle partitioning of individual PAHs. The profiles under the same source category were averaged, and the fingerprints of six sources were established, including coke oven, residential coal burning, coal combustion in power generation, gasoline engine exhaust, diesel engine exhaust, and traffic tunnel air. Nine model operations with a total of 422 runs were made, differing in the choice of fitting species and the sources involved. Modeling results indicate that coke ovens and traffic are the two major sources of PAHs in the area. For traffic sources, either traffic tunnel alone or both diesel and gasoline engine exhausts were entered into the model. These two groups of model operations produced comparable results with regard to the PAH contributions from road traffic. Although the steel industries have shrunk in recent years, closed and still-active coke plants continue to contribute significantly to the PAH loadings. Overall, the average contribution from coke oven emissions calculated by different operations ranges from 21% to 53% of all sources, and that from traffic ranges from 27% to 63%. The pattern of source contributions shows spatial and temporal variations.
To evaluate the chemical composition (source fingerprint) of the major sources of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Chicago metropolitan area, a study of major PAH sources was conducted during ...1990–1992. In this study, a modified high-volume sampling method (PS-1 sampler) was employed to collect airborne PAHs in both the particulate and gas phases. Hewlett Packard 5890 gas chromatographs equipped with the flame ionization and mass spectrometer detectors (GC/FID and GC/MS) were used to analyze the samples. The sources sampled were: coke ovens, highway vehicles, heavy-duty diesel engines, gasoline engines and wood combustion. Results of this study showed that two and three ring PAHs were responsible for 98, 76, 92, 73 and 80% of the total concentration of measured 20 PAHs for coke ovens, diesel engines, highway tunnels, gasoline engines and wood combustion samples, respectively. Six ring PAHs such as indeno(1,2,3-
cd)pyrene and benzo(
ghi)perylene were mostly below the detection limit of this study and only detected in the highway tunnel, diesel and gasoline engine samples. The source fingerprints were obtained by averaging the ratios of individual PAH concentrations to the total concentration of categorical pollutants including: (a) total measured mass of PAHs with retention times between naphthalene and coronene, (b) the mass of the 20 PAHs measured in this study, (c) total VOCs, and (d) total PM10. Since concentrations of the above categorical pollutants were different for individual samples and different sources, the chemical composition patterns obtained for each categorical pollutant were different. The source fingerprints have been developed for use in chemical mass balance receptor modeling calculations.
Background: In this study, repeated measurements were made of levels of mold spores, bacteria, and dust‐mite allergens over a 7‐month period in the homes of asthmatics, and relationships with ...measures of asthma severity were evaluated.
Methods: A sample of 57 asthmatic individuals, living in 44 homes in East Moline, Illinois, and nearby communities, participated in a panel study. The homes were visited up to nine times during the study to collect air and dust samples. Asthma severity indicators were derived from questionnaire data and from the daily health records from the panel study. Associations between indoor levels of mold spores, bacteria, and dust‐mite allergens were tested with several asthma severity indicators.
Results: There was evidence of associations between all asthma severity measures and levels of total and Gram‐negative bacteria, but mold‐spore abundance was associated only with emergency room (ER) visits for asthma. No significant associations were found with house‐dust‐mite allergen and any of the asthma severity indicators, but the levels of dust‐mite allergen were low, with median concentrations of 0.18 µg/g dust Der f 1 and 0.19 µg/g dust Der p 1.
Conclusions: Some evidence was found for associations of increased concentrations of Gram‐negative bacteria and mold spores with asthma severity, particularly with ER visits. No association was found between house‐dust‐mite allergen and asthma severity indicators; however, the mite‐allergen levels in the study homes were generally well below the proposed threshold level of 2 µg/g dust.
Upper airway inflammation is present in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
To determine whether exhaled pentane and nitric oxide (NO) levels, two nonspecific markers of inflammation, are ...increased in patients with OSA.
Exhaled nasal and oral pentane and NO levels were determined before and after sleep in 20 patients with OSA (apnea-hypopnea index, 48±7; mean±SEM) and eight healthy control subjects.
In patients with OSA, exhaled nasal and oral pentane levels after sleep were significantly higher than presleep values (6.1 ±1.2 nM vs 3.4±0.4 nM, and 7.0±1.3 nM vs 4.2±0.4 nM, respectively; p<0.05). Likewise, exhaled nasal and oral NO levels after sleep were significantly higher than presleep values in patients with OSA (39.7±3.8 ppb vs 28.4±2.9 ppb and 10.9±1.5 ppb vs 6.6±0.8 ppb, respectively; p<0.05). By contrast, there were no significant differences in exhaled nasal and oral pentane, and nasal NO levels before and after sleep in control subjects. Exhaled oral NO levels were significantly increased after sleep in comparison to presleep values in control subjects (p<0.05).
Exhaled nasal pentane and NO levels are increased after sleep in patients with moderate-severe OSA. These data suggest that upper airway inflammation is present in these patients after sleep.
Indoor and outdoor air samples at 10 non-smoker homes in the Chicago area were concurrently collected once per month for a 14-month period starting June 2000. During each sampling event, temperature, ...humidity, CO
2, and CO were recorded. Questionnaires were used to register household activities. For each sample, 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured using gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer (GC/MS). The total concentration of the 16 PAHs (ΣPAHs) ranged from 13 to 2454
ng
m
−3 in the indoor air and from 13 to 1865
ng
m
−3 in the outdoor air. In most cases, the concentrations were found to be log-normally distributed. The sum of PAHs with molecular mass ⩽202 (ΣLight-PAHs, excluding naphthalene and anthracene) were found to behave differently than the sum of those with molecular mass ⩾228 (ΣHeavy-PAHs). Variations among seasons were significant for indoor ΣLight-PAHs, and temperature was found to positively correlate with indoor ΣLight-PAHs for nine of the 10 homes. For ΣHeavy-PAHs, the outdoor concentrations were found to be significantly higher in the fall and winter seasons than in the summer. The correlations of indoor and outdoor concentrations appear to be weak for light PAHs, but reasonably strong for heavy PAHs. The medians of indoor-to-outdoor ratio (I/O) are less than or very close to 1 for all PAHs except anthracene. The indoor concentrations of ΣPAHs tend to be higher as the age of the houses increases, and the surrounding industrial pollution was found to have impact on outdoor ΣHeavy-PAHs. For light PAHs indoors, comparison among homes indicates that the impact of house characteristics and indoor activities tends to be greater than the influence of the penetrating outdoor air.
A one-year surveillance project was conducted at a large tertiary hospital, which had extensive indoor renovation and extensive demolition/building at several nearby sites. This study collected ...viable fungi samples in the hospital every six days and analysed 74 duct dust samples for
Aspergillus fumigatus mycelial asp f1 protein. Mean total fungi were 257.8
cfu/m
3 outdoors, 53.2
cfu/m
3 in all indoor samples and 83.5
cfu/m
3 in the bone marrow transplant patient rooms. Mean total aspergillus was 6.8
cfu/m
3 outdoors, 12.1
cfu/m
3 in all indoor samples and 7.3
cfu/m
3 in the bone marrow transplant patient rooms. The five most prevalent
Aspergillus species collected inside the hospital (mean cfu/m
3) were
Aspergillus niger 7.57
cfu/m
3,
Aspergillus candidus 1.72
cfu/m
3,
Aspergillus flavus 0.97
cfu/m
3,
A. fumigatus 0.88
cfu/m
3 and
Aspergillus glaucus 0.45
cfu/m
3. In rooms undergoing duct cleaning, mean
A. fumigatus concentrations were 11.0
cfu/m
3. Forty-eight of 74 (65%) duct dust samples had measurable levels of asp f1 protein, with a mean level of 0.41 ppm and maximum level of 1.94 ppm. Three major incidents involved increased hospital aspergillus concentrations.
A. niger levels reached 680
cfu/m
3 in an organ transplant room after a water leak from a ceiling pipe. Total aspergillus concentrations rose to 77
cfu/m
3 in a bone marrow transplant patient room after improper sealing and water infiltration of the unit’s dedicated high-efficiency particulate air filter system. Total aspergillus levels of 160
cfu/m
3 were recorded in a renovation area during wood cutting. The higher concentrations of aspergillus seen inside the hospital compared with outdoors and the various moisture/HEPA filter/renovation incidents suggest that numerous small to moderate sources of aspergillus exist in the hospital.
Ten homes were monitored at regular intervals from June 1994 through April 1995 as part of a Public Health Assessment in Southeast Chicago for exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ...polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and elements. Simultaneous 24-h indoor and outdoor samples were collected. VOCs were and analyzed using USEPA Method TO-14 with Selected Ion Monitoring Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). PAHs were analyzed using USEPA Method TO-13 with GC/MS. Elements were collected on quartz fiber filters and analyzed by Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma (ICP) spectroscopy or Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption (GFAA). Continuous measurements of CO2 and temperature were recorded for each indoor sample. Twenty-four h total CO2 emissions were determined from occupancy and estimated gas stove usage and were moderately correlated (R2 = 0.19) with 24 h average indoor CO2 concentrations. Modeled 24-h air exchange rates ranged from 0.04 to 3.76 air changes h-1 (ACH), with mean of 0.52 ACH. Median particle penetration was 0.89. Emission rates were calculated for each pollutant sampled. Using a detailed housing survey and field sampling questionnaires, it was possible to evaluate associations between housing characteristics and source activities, and pollutant source rates. The data indicate that several predictor variables, including mothball storage, air freshner use, and cooking activities, are reasonable predictors for emission rates for specific pollutants in the homes studied.
