Assessment of Ambient Air Toxics and Wood Smoke Pollution among Communities in Sacramento County

Steven G. Brown, Janice Lam Snyder, Michael C. McCarthy, Nathan R. Pavlovic, Stephen D’Andrea, Joseph Hanson, Amy P. Sullivan and Hilary R. Hafner
Additional contact information
Steven G. Brown: Sonoma Technology, Inc., Petaluma, CA 95494, USA
Janice Lam Snyder: Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD), Sacramento, CA 95814, USA
Michael C. McCarthy: Sonoma Technology, Inc., Petaluma, CA 95494, USA
Nathan R. Pavlovic: Sonoma Technology, Inc., Petaluma, CA 95494, USA
Stephen D’Andrea: Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD), Sacramento, CA 95814, USA
Joseph Hanson: Meta Research, Inc., Sacramento, CA 95811, USA
Amy P. Sullivan: Atmospheric Science Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
Hilary R. Hafner: Sonoma Technology, Inc., Petaluma, CA 95494, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-24

Abstract: Ambient air monitoring and phone survey data were collected in three environmental justice (EJ) and three non-EJ communities in Sacramento County during winter 2016–2017 to understand the differences in air toxics and in wood smoke pollution among communities. Concentrations of six hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and black carbon (BC) from fossil fuel (BC ff ) were significantly higher at EJ communities versus non-EJ communities. BC from wood burning (BC wb ) was significantly higher at non-EJ communities. Correlation analysis indicated that the six HAPs were predominantly from fossil fuel combustion sources, not from wood burning. The HAPs were moderately variable across sites (coefficient of divergence (COD) range of 0.07 for carbon tetrachloride to 0.28 for m- and p-xylenes), while BC ff and BC wb were highly variable (COD values of 0.46 and 0.50). The BC wb was well correlated with levoglucosan ( R 2 of 0.68 to 0.95), indicating that BC wb was a robust indicator for wood burning. At the two permanent monitoring sites, wood burning comprised 29–39% of the fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) on nights when PM 2.5 concentrations were forecasted to be high. Phone survey data were consistent with study measurements; the only significant difference in the survey results among communities were that non-EJ residents burn with indoor devices more often than EJ residents.

Keywords: community air monitoring; black carbon; wood smoke; air toxics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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