CAREER: SPatiotemporal INvestigation of Urban Pollution and Air Quality (SPIN-UP-AQ)

Air pollution by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has a significant impact on air quality and human health in urban communities throughout the world. In urban areas, VOCs are present in wide ranges of concentration, volatility, reactivity, and toxicity. VOCs in urban air include intermediate-volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs).

These fractions are increasingly the focus of air pollution studies as they may include toxic constituents or provide unique markers for specific atmospheric processes and sources. However, measurements of I/SVOCs are extremely challenging due to their relatively low concentrations in air samples and analytical instrument limitations. Recent advances in chemical ionization mass spectrometry and the availability of commercial high-resolution mass spectrometers have opened the possibility of conducting measurements of atmospheric pollutants at ultralow concentrations.

Building upon these advances, the Principal Investigator of this CAREER project proposes to measure the local and regional atmospheric concentrations of a full spectrum of I/SVOCs. These compounds will be quantified as a function of time and source location with a focus on mapping known and emerging air pollutants in low-income urban communities that are often located close to industrial or other anthropogenic pollution sources.

The Austin metropolitan area in Texas will be used as a model system. The successful completion of this research will benefit society through the generation of new data and fundamental knowledge to advance the quantitative understanding and evaluation of pollution sources and factors affecting air quality and toxic exposures in urban areas. Further benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training including the mentoring of a graduate student and a female undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin.

The overarching goal of this CAREER project is to measure and accurately quantify the spatiotemporal concentrations of intermediate-volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in air samples throughout the City of Austin (TX) metropolitan area at a resolution of 50 meters that has not been achieved in previous investigations of urban air pollution. The guiding hypothesis of the proposed research is that the compositions and concentrations of I/SVOCs in the metropolitan area of a city like Austin are spatially heterogenous with significant differences between wealthy communities and low-income communities located near major sources of air pollution including freeways, airports, wastewater treatment plants, landfills, and industries.

To test this hypothesis, the Principal Investigator (PI) proposes to deploy a state-of-the-art proton transfer reaction time of flight mass spectrometer in a mobile lab vehicle configured to carry out regional on-road spatial measurements of air quality. The specific objectives of the research are to: (1) Quantify the spatial compositions of I/SVOCs using mobile measurements; (2) Quantify the changes in temporal compositions of I/SVOCs at a selected community receptor site using stationary measurements; (3) Use the data collected during the mobile and stationary air quality measurements to build and validate multivariate models that could be used to quantify exposure risks and environmental justice indices for communities in the Austin metropolitan area; and (4) Quantify the source apportionment from the mobile and stationary measurements to build a community source fingerprint inventory for I/SVOCs in the Austin metropolitan area.

The successful completion of this research has the potential for transformative impact through the generation of new data and fundamental knowledge that will advance the quantitative understanding of urban pollution sources and factors affecting air quality and community exposure. To implement the educational and training goals of this CAREER project, the PI will leverage the research findings to update his experiential air quality courses at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin.

In addition, the PI plans to partner with the Whole Community-Whole Health program at UT-Austin to educate and assist local communities that are affected by air pollution to voice their concerns based on the air quality data and exposure risk estimates from the PI’s investigations.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.