scholarly journals The Grass Is Always Greener on My Side: A Field Experiment Examining the Home Halo Effect

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6335
Author(s):  
Àlex Boso ◽  
Boris Álvarez ◽  
Christian Oltra ◽  
Jaime Garrido ◽  
Carlos Muñoz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Halo Effect ◽  
Southern Chile ◽  
Severe Problem ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
Fine Particulate ◽  
Indoor Spaces

Wood-burning pollution is a severe problem in southern Chile, where every winter, people are exposed to unhealthy ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations. Urban air quality is a major concern for health officials, but public awareness campaigns tend to focus on outdoor hazards. Our understanding of how residents are exposed and perceive air pollution risks in their homes remains incomplete. This study explores the ability of participants to perceive indoor air quality. We collected data on 81 households, combining perceptions of air quality with objective measurements of PM2.5. Residents’ evaluations of air quality were systematically compared to inspectors’ evaluations in order to examine the home halo effect. We found that residents tended to overestimate air quality in their homes. We discuss how our data supported the existence of a home halo effect, but also point out the possibility that individuals’ ability to perceive air quality in indoor spaces is limited by other factors.

scholarly journals Impact of Outdoor Air Pollution on Indoor Air Quality in Low-Income Homes during Wildfire Seasons

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (19) ◽  
pp. 3535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prateek M. Shrestha ◽  
Jamie L. Humphrey ◽  
Elizabeth J. Carlton ◽  
John L. Adgate ◽  
Kelsey E. Barton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Indoor Sources ◽  
Fine Particulate ◽  
Pollutant Concentrations ◽  
Indoor And Outdoor

Indoor and outdoor number concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were monitored continuously for two to seven days in 28 low-income homes in Denver, Colorado, during the 2016 and 2017 wildfire seasons. In the absence of indoor sources, all outdoor pollutant concentrations were higher than indoors except for CO. Results showed that long-range wildfire plumes elevated median indoor PM2.5 concentrations by up to 4.6 times higher than outdoors. BC, CO, and NO2 mass concentrations were higher indoors in homes closer to roadways compared to those further away. Four of the homes with mechanical ventilation systems had 18% higher indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratios of PM2.5 and 4% higher I/O ratios of BC compared to other homes. Homes with exhaust stove hoods had PM2.5 I/O ratios 49% less than the homes with recirculating hoods and 55% less than the homes with no stove hoods installed. Homes with windows open for more than 12 hours a day during sampling had indoor BC 2.4 times higher than homes with windows closed. This study provides evidence that long-range wildfire plumes, road proximity, and occupant behavior have a combined effect on indoor air quality in low-income homes.

scholarly journals Description and Evaluation of the Fine Particulate Matter Forecasts in the NCAR Regional Air Quality Forecasting System

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 302
Author(s):  
Rajesh Kumar ◽  
Piyush Bhardwaj ◽  
Gabriele Pfister ◽  
Carl Drews ◽  
Shawn Honomichl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Model Errors ◽  
Air Quality Forecast ◽  
Fine Particulate ◽  
Regional Air Quality ◽  
Forecasting System ◽  
Air Quality Forecasting

This paper describes a quasi-operational regional air quality forecasting system for the contiguous United States (CONUS) developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to support air quality decision-making, field campaign planning, early identification of model errors and biases, and support the atmospheric science community in their research. This system aims to complement the operational air quality forecasts produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), not to replace them. A publicly available information dissemination system has been established that displays various air quality products, including a near-real-time evaluation of the model forecasts. Here, we report the performance of our air quality forecasting system in simulating meteorology and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for the first year after our system started, i.e., 1 June 2019 to 31 May 2020. Our system shows excellent skill in capturing hourly to daily variations in temperature, surface pressure, relative humidity, water vapor mixing ratios, and wind direction but shows relatively larger errors in wind speed. The model also captures the seasonal cycle of surface PM2.5 very well in different regions and for different types of sites (urban, suburban, and rural) in the CONUS with a mean bias smaller than 1 µg m−3. The skill of the air quality forecasts remains fairly stable between the first and second days of the forecasts. Our air quality forecast products are publicly available at a NCAR webpage. We invite the community to use our forecasting products for their research, as input for urban scale (<4 km), air quality forecasts, or the co-development of customized products, just to name a few applications.

scholarly journals Meteorological controls on atmospheric particulate pollution during hazard reduction burns

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Di Virgilio ◽  
Melissa Anne Hart ◽  
Ningbo Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Hazard Reduction ◽  
Particulate Pollution ◽  
Fine Particulate ◽  
Projected Changes ◽  
Sydney Australia

Abstract. Internationally, severe wildfires are an escalating problem likely to worsen given projected changes to climate. Hazard reduction burns (HRB) are used to suppress wildfire occurrences, but they generate considerable emissions of atmospheric fine particulate matter, which depending upon prevailing atmospheric conditions, can degrade air quality. Our objectives are to improve understanding of the relationships between meteorological conditions and air quality during HRBs in Sydney, Australia. We identify the primary meteorological covariates linked to high PM2.5 pollution (particulates

scholarly journals Atmospheric conditions affecting the transmission of COVID-19 virus

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1487
Author(s):  
Purva Shoor ◽  
Gagan Deep Kaur ◽  
Amanjot Kaur Chauhan
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Respiratory Infections ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Air Velocity ◽  
Fine Particulate ◽  
Low Humidity

The physical environment plays an important role in the transmission of respiratory infections like COVID-19. Atmospheric conditions associated to diseases like influenza, adenovirus infections, parainfluenza, common cold viruses and so on. But we are still lacking in evidence to support the influence of meteorological conditions in spreading COVID-19. We have discussed air pollution, smoking, low air temperature, and proximity to equator, low humidity and air velocity as contributing factors in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 through this narrative synthesis. Bio-aerosol or ultra-fine particulate matter seems to be the most promising mode of transmission of COVID-19. Other methods are direct contact and droplet infection. Air pollution control can prevent priming of respiratory system which shall further protect from pulmonary infections. Air sanitization and humidifiers can be considered to modify the indoor air and prevent contracting infection at workplaces, schools and other gatherings.

scholarly journals Impacts of historical climate and land cover changes on fine particulate matter (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) air quality in East Asia over 1980–2010

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Fu ◽  
Amos P. K. Tai ◽  
Hong Liao
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Anthropogenic Emissions ◽  
Voc Emissions ◽  
Fine Particulate

Abstract. To examine the effects of changes in climate, land cover and land use (LCLU), and anthropogenic emissions on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) between the 5-year periods 1981–1985 and 2007–2011 in East Asia, we perform a series of simulations using a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) driven by assimilated meteorological data and a suite of land cover and land use data. Our results indicate that climate change alone could lead to a decrease in wintertime PM2.5 concentration by 4.0–12.0 μg m−3 in northern China, but an increase in summertime PM2.5 by 6.0–8.0 μg m−3 in those regions. These changes are attributable to the changing chemistry and transport of all PM2.5 components driven by long-term trends in temperature, wind speed and mixing depth. The concentration of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is simulated to increase by 0.2–0.8 μg m−3 in both summer and winter in most regions of East Asia due to climate change alone, mostly reflecting higher biogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions under warming. The impacts of LCLU change alone on PM2.5 (−2.1 to +1.3 μg m−3) are smaller than that of climate change, but among the various components the sensitivity of SOA and thus organic carbon to LCLU change (−0.4 to +1.2 μg m−3) is quite significant especially in summer, which is driven mostly by changes in biogenic VOC emissions following cropland expansion and changing vegetation density. The combined impacts show that while the effect of climate change on PM2.5 air quality is more pronounced, LCLU change could offset part of the climate effect in some regions but exacerbate it in others. As a result of both climate and LCLU changes combined, PM2.5 levels are estimated to change by −12.0 to +12.0 μg m−3 across East Asia between the two periods. Changes in anthropogenic emissions remain the largest contributor to deteriorating PM2.5 air quality in East Asia during the study period, but climate and LCLU changes could lead to a substantial modification of PM2.5 levels.

scholarly journals Factors Impacting Range Hood Use in California Houses and Low-Income Apartments

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (23) ◽  
pp. 8870
Author(s):  
Haoran Zhao ◽  
Wanyu R. Chan ◽  
William W. Delp ◽  
Hao Tang ◽  
Iain S. Walker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indoor Air ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Fine Particulate ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Actual Use ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Indoor Air Pollutants

Venting range hoods can control indoor air pollutants emitted during residential cooktop and oven cooking. To quantify their potential benefits, it is important to know how frequently and under what conditions range hoods are operated during cooking. We analyzed data from 54 single family houses and 17 low-income apartments in California in which cooking activities, range hood use, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) were monitored for one week per home. Range hoods were used for 36% of cooking events in houses and 28% in apartments. The frequency of hood use increased with cooking frequency across homes. In both houses and apartments, the likelihood of hood use during a cooking event increased with the duration of cooktop burner use, but not with the duration of oven use. Actual hood use rates were higher in the homes of participants who self-reported more frequent use in a pre-study survey, but actual use was far lower than self-reported frequency. Residents in single family houses used range hoods more often when cooking caused a discernible increase in PM2.5. In apartments, residents used their range hood more often only when high concentrations of PM2.5 were generated during cooking.

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