Abstract

Near road exposure has become a growing concern for air quality in the United States based on increasing evidence that near road exposure to primary and secondary pollutants can lead to increased adverse health effects1.  However, there are notable deficiencies in the current monitoring networks for assessing and understanding near road air quality issues.  While efforts have been taken to establish near road monitoring networks for certain pollutants including NO, CO, and PM2.5, little research has been directed at coarse particles re-suspension from road dust2, 3. Moreover, dust re-suspended by road traffic in major roadways would be expected to be at elevated levels near transportation corridors and would contain a multitude of toxic materials that could lead to health problems among susceptible populations, e.g. children and the elderly4. Therefore, CPM should be a critical component of a near road monitoring network, which this study seeks to identify and offer improvements. The goal of this study is to monitor and assess the impact of near road coarse particulate matter (CPM-PM10-2.5) concentrations in a densely populated urban area having high traffic density using the following three main objectives.  The first is to establish a reliable and efficient near road monitoring system and strategy for PM10 using a new low-cost, light scattering particulate matter sensor, the Wireless Air Quality Monitor (WAQM) developed by Boise State University.  Results from the study can corroborate existing and developing near road air quality monitoring networks (i.e. NO2, CO, PM2.5) to provide an accurate assessment of near road air quality.  The second objective will be to compile a comprehensive database on PM10 in the targeted location. It is likely to have consistently high levels of re-suspended road dust due to high traffic volume.  This database will be used to assess whether or not the current NAAQS limit for PM10 at 150 ug/m3 over a 24-hour period is adequate enough for protection of public health when coupled with recent health data5. The third objective would be to leverage the mobility of the WAQM in  establishing both spatial and temporal trends for PM10 concentrations in and around the study location for given periods of time (e.g. high traffic periods) to provide understanding of CPM behavior and movement.