1. Air pollution and children's health (e.g.,
asthma, respiratory symptoms and even cardiovascular disease)
have been increasingly linked in recent federal health studies
2. Children’s asthma incidence in Berks
County is second highest in state of Pennsylvania - 14.69% (2003/2004
average) compared to state-average of about 10%
3. Berks County is currently classified as nonattainment
with both the federal ozone and PM2.5 ambient air quality standards.
Berks County is projected to violate the new, more stringent,
federal ambient air PM2.5 24-hour standard as well as the existing
annual PM2.5 standard
4. Berks County is projected to be one of only
two counties in the northeast U.S. in the year 2015 that is
still classified as PM2.5 nonattainment
5. U.S. EPA has identified Berks County as having
very high air toxics concentrations and health risks associated
with air toxics in the EPA National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA)
studies
6. Berks County has a growing population (estimated
to be 400,000 by 2010) and has relatively high low-income, minority
and child populations located in urban areas in close proximity
to large industrial sources and/or to elevated traffic locations
7. Berks County’s industrial and electric
utility legacy and presence of more Superfund sites and landfills
than most counties presents research challenges and opportunities
for assessing causes of air pollution and other environmental
impacts on children and for identifying mitigating measures
to reduce children's’ exposure to pollutants
PICEH began operation of an air quality monitoring
station on the campus of Kutztown University in Berks County,
PA in October 2007. The station collects realtime weather data
and air pollution monitoring data, which we display on our air
monitoring website, www.PICEHAIR.org.
The monitoring station was made possible by a partnership between
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
and Kutztown University with funding provided by the County
of Berks. PICEH operates the monitoring station and created
the website, which we unveiled to the public in April 2008.
We depict the air pollution conditions using the
national Air Quality Index (AQI) color-coded system, where Green
means Good air quality, Yellow means Moderate, Orange means
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (including children), and Red
and Purple mean Unhealthy and Very Unhealthy. Our website uses
a unique graphic which shows both ozone pollution and fine particle
pollution on a single map using a circle and ring graphic. The
inner circle color represents the ozone AQI and the outer ring
represents the fine particle (also called PM2.5) AQI. The website
has a 24-hour looping option that lets you see air pollution
episodes and their effects on the different sites as the pollution
travels through the region.
Underlying our website and its depiction of realtime
pollution data and air pollution alerts is a powerful database.
We created a database to capture all the weather and pollution
data we collect at our Kutztown site and all the hourly data
collected by the DEP at their 16 monitoring sites. A typical
site collects realtime data for the pollutants ozone, PM10,
PM2.5, NO2, NOx, SO2, and CO as well as the weather parameters
temperature, wind speed and wind direction (10 parameters every
hour) so you can see our database has to store a lot of data
every hour. Our database is used to archive the DEP data and
our Kutztown data for use by researchers and students. The historical
data is available for comparison on a daily or monthly basis
and tools have been provided to allow comparison with graphs
or in tabular format.
The “Compare Data” button on the website
lets you graph realtime pollution levels at up to six different
sites and to compare pollution and weather data for 4 different
parameters at a single site. These graphing tools allow you
to make sense of all the data we collect and to see trends without
having to apply powerful software and statistics. For example,
we have seen that fine particle pollution levels are generally
higher in the Lancaster and Reading areas than in the Lehigh
Valley or in the Philadelphia area during winter pollution episodes.
As another example, we have noticed an apparent correlation
between elevated nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution concentrations
and fine particle levels during winter pollution episodes. These
observations can be seen easily with our graphing tools but
would otherwise be difficult to discern.
Our website also has links to the weather forecast,
weather radar, and to the DEP statewide realtime pollution
data website. We also show the detailed weather and air pollution
data we are collecting at Kutztown at the “Air Quality
Details” button. You can see 48-hour graphs showing
wind conditions, rainfall amounts, solar radiation, barometric
pressure and humidity data from our Kutztown monitor. We are
collecting state-of-the-art weather data at the Kutztown site
that includes much more data for use by researchers than is
collected at the DEP monitoring sites. We believe that collecting
more data will enable us to better understand correlations
between pollution levels, weather conditions, pollution transport
into our region and local air pollution sources like traffic,
industry, and trash burning activities.
In addition to the realtime pollution and weather data, PICEH
is also collecting air toxics data at the Kutztown site. The
air toxics data is collected once every 6 days on filters
and in canisters which are analyzed at the DEP air quality
laboratory. This data is not collected realtime because it
takes time for the sample collection and laboratory analysis.
We plan to show this data on our website and to compare it
with data DEP is collecting at several air toxic monitoring
sites in Pennsylvania including a new site located at the
Reading Airport in Berks County.
We encourage everyone to visit our website at www.PICEHAIR.org
and to bookmark the site to check on air pollution levels
routinely. When air pollution levels are high (Moderate or
Unhealthy), then you should minimize outdoor activities for
children and for other sensitive groups like asthmatics. During
these air pollution episodes you can also help air quality
by minimizing automobile travel, by avoiding burning activities,
and avoiding other polluting activities like lawn mowing.
AIR MONITORING RESEARCH PLANS
PICEH’s initial research focus has been on air pollution
due to high levels of fine particle pollution (PM2.5) and
air toxics in Berks County, PA where our organization is located.
Some of our research findings and plans are as follows:
• We have been analyzing the composition of PM2.5 pollution
in Berks County and in other parts of southeastern PA by comparing
data from eight DEP “speciated PM2.5” monitors.
This analysis has shown a steep gradient in ammonium nitrate
levels with the highest levels seen in Lancaster, PA and the
lowest levels in the Lehigh Valley.
• We have conducted a PM2.5 “source apportionment”
analysis to determine the relative contributions to pollution
levels from mobile sources (automobiles and trucks), burning
sources (brush/trash burning, forest fires), dust, industrial
sources, and secondary sulfate and nitrate sources. We are
finding that more than half of the annual average PM2.5 concentrations
in southeastern PA are due to transported sulfate and nitrate
pollution from outside our area.
• We are conducting an inhalation human health risk
assessment for the air toxic concentrations that are being
measured at the Kutztown and Reading monitoring sites. The
risk assessment will help us understand the risks presented
by air toxics to children and will help us compare air pollution
risks with the well understood risks from other toxic exposures
including radon, toxics in drinking water, and lead paint
exposure.
• We plan installation of additional PM2.5 monitors
in Berks County and adjacent counties to better understand
PM2.5 variability and gradients in southeastern Pennsylvania.
PICEH RESEARCH BACKGROUND
2001-2004: Children’s asthma incidence is
high in Berks County compared to rest of PA (PA Dept of Health
school reported data)
Apr. 2004: Berks County is classified as “nonattainment
” by U.S. EPA for fine particulate (PM2.5) air pollution
as well as nonattainment for ground-level ozone pollution
Jun. 2004: Berks County Environmental Advisory Council
(EAC) is created and advises that nonattainment status is
both a public health concern and an economic development concern
for attracting new manufacturing or expanding existing county
industry
Dec. 2005: U.S. EPA identifies air toxics concerns
in Berks in their NATA study, but the study is not based on
actual air monitoring data
Jan. 2006: Berks County Commissioners fund an air
pollution study
Apr. 2006: County meetings with PA DEP to request
improved air monitoring in Berks
Aug. 2006: Pennsylvania Institute for Children’s
Environmental Health (PICEH) is founded at Kutztown University
and proposes partnership with PA DEP to better monitor and
research Berks air quality; PICEH research goals and projects
are developed for analyzing DEP monitoring data and for other
environmental research projects in Berks County
Oct. 2006: PA DEP provides formal commitment to
Berks County for improved air monitoring equipment, to a second
air monitoring location at KU campus, and to PICEH partnership
and DEP training for operation of additional air quality monitors
Aug. 2007: County of Berks signs agreement for 15-year
funding for PICEH research through landfill environmental
legal settlement monies
Oct. 2007: PICEH air monitoring station begins operation
at Kutztown University including ozone, PM2.5 and air toxics
monitors
Apr. 2008: PICEH unveils www.PICEHAir.org
website to display real-time ozone and PM2.5 pollution data
from 17 southeastern PA monitoring sites
WHY OUR STAKEHOLDERS SUPPORT PICEH RESEARCH?
• Partnership with County, PA DEP and Kutztown University
to study county air pollution and children’s health
• Create a center of excellence in the county for environmental
health studies and research, education, and outreach
• Participation in a partnership to understand causes
of air pollution and to contribute to development of PA DEP
nonattainment plans to ensure both protection of county air
quality resources and to promote responsible industrial and
economic growth
• Obtain objective information for informed government
decisions about local pollution control measures for activities
like vehicle idling, open burning, traffic congestion, etc.
• Transform Berks County image from one based on industrial
legacy and past pollution problems to a healthy place to live
with a proactive county government and academic and high-tech
centers of excellence
• Achieve a better understanding of the risks of air
pollution by analyzing speciated PM2.5 and air toxics data
collected over next years in Berks County and other locations
in PA and compare with U.S. EPA estimates of air pollution
risk
• Deploy additional air monitoring and meteorological
equipment (with PA DEP training and support) to better understand
pollution transport into southeastern PA and local air pollution
concerns
• Protect the area’s air quality, ensure responsible
progress towards air pollution attainment status, and support
children’s environmental health education and research
RESEARCH GOALS
1. Promote cooperative partnership with university and county,
state and federal government agencies to research children's
environmental health issues. Utilize government environmental
monitoring and release data to assess correlation between
air pollution and children's’ health.
2. Collect and analyze environmental data in an impartial,
objective manner without advocacy. Gather and analyze data
to allow informed policy decision making. Ensure that human
health risks from environmental factors are appropriately
characterized to allow policy makers to compare risks knowledgeably.
3. Review children’s asthma incidence data in Pennsylvania
(from PA school reporting data and hospital admittance data)
and relate to air pollution levels and assess relative risks
from indoor air quality and allergen factors.
4. Evaluate other children's health morbidity incidence that
may relate environmental factors, including respiratory conditions,
cardiovascular disease, blood toxin levels, and neurological
conditions.
5. Identify appropriate epidemiological studies to better
evaluate extent of air pollution and children's health impacts.
6. Analyze ambient air PM2.5 monitoring data for speciated
composition and for spatial variation in Berks County and
elucidate which species of air pollutants correlate with high
PM2.5 episodes and children's health episodes.
7. Examine the causes of elevated air pollution and children's
health episodes by source apportionment analyses.
8. Analyze air toxics monitoring data and compare with EPA
NATA studies and with health-based screening levels.
