Volatile Organic Compound Emissions

The date of data from this list on scorecard.org is not known to me (yet). I was curious about volatile organic compounds, since they are known to be problematic for asthmatics. I started looking at all the bay area counties, and added the top 5 up. Looks like we are getting, by this data, 8047 TONS of Volatile Organic Compounds in the air in a year from the top 5 polluters per county alone. I would need to work with a researcher to find out if there any known effects from these quantities, and I need to find out from the EPA the most current data. Of course that isn't easy, I have been searching around epa.gov, and do not see a user-friendly data list as made available for the 6 common pollutants (Ozone, Particulate Matter, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Lead). Perhaps the California Air Resources Board will be able to tell me.

Here is a a link to information on Volatile Organic Compounds from the Minnesota Department of Health

Lastly, I am curious about the dispersion rate of previous year's pollutants. For example, let's say 8047 TONS of VOCs were release into the air in 2000. That doesn't necessarily mean in 2001 those pollutants dissapated! There *must* be a cumulative effect taken into consideration and included in calculations. So if out of 8047 TONS of VOCs, 7500 of that blew north or east to our neighbors, that still leaves 500 EXTRA tons on top of next year's VOC count. So if in 2001 there was another 8000 tons of VOCs emitted, there should be a count of 8500 tons in the air. These numbers are completely hypothetical, of course, I am merely pointing out that I want to know if there is latency included in the measurements of VOC's. Are VOC's counted in PM10 and PM2.5 or somewhere else? I have to find out. Sigh. I feel like this is going to take a lot of work. And I must admit, being on the road for 6 weeks now is tough.

Besides being alone on the road, driving around, back and forth, is a bit draining, as is staying in hotels. However, it's something that needs to be done, and I'm willing to do it. I have a crappy travel schedule next... driving from Flagstaff to Phoenix, then Phoenix flying to Kuaui, then coming back to Phoenix, then flying out to Seattle, then back to Phoenix, then driving to San Luis Obispo, then finally, home. I need to always come back to Phoenix because if I do develop asthma in Kuaui or Seattle, I need to be able to 'reset' my asthma in Flagstaff, make it go away essentially, to test out the next city. I miss home, and can't wait for this to be over! I actually do not want to go to Seattle, but it so happens my childhood friend, Craig (who also has bad allergies like me) moved there and all of his allergies disappeared. That means there's a good chance that Seattle could have an effect on my allergies which will be real interesting to notate - how does it effect my general well being, and how does it effect my asthma? I leave for Hawaii on Monday, I will be in Kuaui, where the air is supposed to clean. From there I will be able to tell if my asthma is humidity related, or pollution related, or both.

Refinery Emissions

In order to track down the 3% of winter PM2.5 generated by refinery emissions, I am going to contact the California Air Resources Board, and Chevron's Richmond Refinery.

Wish me luck in getting the data! I don't know if some of the chemicals from the refinery could be triggering my asthma, but I thought it's good the public knows what toxic, carcinogens, or otherwise unhealthy chemicals and particulates are being dumped into our air that we breathe. On the charts the EPA provides, the mark particulates in matter of parts per millions and parts per billion, and so in a 24 hour time period the amounts may seem small. However, day in and day out, hour after hour, breathe after breathe, as our bodies collect those chemicals, what are the effects after 10 years? Perhaps the general public is not too concerned, but with 1 in 10 children having asthma (estimate - see previous specified reports on exact reported asthma rates on children), I think there is a significant possibility there are specific particulates that are having a huge negeative effect on the health of our population!

I will look at specific particulates in each city and compare them - San Francisco's chemicals, pollution, particulates, etc, versus Albuquerque. Perhaps it is merely humidity, or perhaps there are chemicals present in San Francisco that are not present in Albuquerque.

Bay Area Pollution Symmary

This is the Bay Area Pollution Summary. It measures Ozone, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, PM10, and PM2.5. If I have time I would like to compare these amounts per year to asthma rates in the Bay Area per year for the last 10 years, and see if there is any correlation. However - for PM10, and PM2.5 I still don't know what the specific particulates and chemicals are. You can download the report at http://www.baaqmd.gov/pio/aq_summaries/index.htm. I spoke to someone there, and he said the standard have gotten stricter so in the 2008 report the number of days over the standard will be higher, although to be honest I have to review the chart more thoroughly to comment on it more. I did find it interesting that on page 2 it shows we are getting WORSE at PM2.5 - exceeding standards! And we are also exceeding California standards for PM10!



I got the sources of winter PM2.5 from the Bay Area Air Quality Management team, but I still would like more info as to individual chemical names from the refining and power plant particulates sources.



It lists wood smoke as the biggest contributor, but when you combine exhaust, irrelevant of the source, you have off-road (20%) + on-road (23%) + aircraft (3%) = 46% of our particulates of winter PM2.5 are VEHICLE-EXHAUST related and that is the biggest contributor, not wood smoke!

Also - the chart does not relate the toxicity of each exhaust. For example, is wood smoke as toxic as let's say, refining exhaust? I am sorry, but I believe that it is *essential* to understand the toxicity of each to the respiratory system. I know I shouldn't assume, but my question is simple: what chemicals are being release, how much of them, what levels are toxic to humans, and what are the effects of the chemicals being released? A gram of wood smoke particulate and a gram of refinery emissions in a cubic meter of air might have very different toxicity levels in a human. I also am not sure about the toxicity levels of vehicle exhaust, I must find out about that as well. Sigh...so much to do.

Albuquerque, NM

I have just returned to Flagstaff, AZ, from Albuquerque, a good 5.5-6 hour drive, due to the rain. Here's what I found out of personal experience. I could run in Albuquerque for 4 days, without any asthma.. yayyy! While I would rate my breathing a little below Flagstaff, it still was way better than San Francisco! In Santa Fe, surprisingly, I had a bit of trouble breathing, even though the air is supposed to be one of the cleanest in the country. In fact I did have to take a puff of my inhaler. I am curious if it was something along the lines of pollens or perhaps the air was cold and dry enough that it actually irritated my lungs. Cold, dry air is known as an asthma trigger. However it did rule out that altitude was somehow the reason my asthma went away, as Flagstaff and Santa Fe share the same altitude. Here's some stats on Albuquerque:

Altitude: 5280
Humidity: 58AM, 29PM
Ozone: A (American Lung Association State of the air report.)
Particulates: B & C (American Lung Association State of the Air report). This is for Sandoval and Bernalillo. I was told my hotel was on the Sandoval side, which is supposed to be the 'cleaner' side.
The EPA has this data for Sandoval: 94 days where PM2.5 exceeded the limit, 7 unhealthy days, and 14 unhealthy days for sensitive people. I am not sure what to make of this yet. You can see the data here.
This does lend some credibility to the idea that humidity plays a factor but I won't be sure until I am in Hawaii, where I will compare clean, humid air to Flagstaff's air.

*However, until I can actually compare the actual specific particulates being used to generate the PM10, and PM2.5 data, I won't be able to compare apples to apples. For example - there could be more particulates in Albuquerque, but those particulates could be less apt to generate an asthmatic response than the particulates that we breathe in San Francisco.

I will leave for Hawaii on Saturday or Sunday, and might not be able to post any information for 4-5 days. If this trip provides any information that could help a researcher, I would be very happy. It would be fantastic if a there was some definitive research done on where is the best place for asthmatics to live, and why! Up till now, no doctor, ENT specialist, allergy & asthma specialist has been able to provide me with that information.

Criteria Air Pollutant Report: SAN FRANCISCO County, CA

This site is awesome - very thorough information on pollution

scorecard.org

However it ranks San Francisco's air as very dirty! This is in stark contrast to what the Bay Area Air Quality Management people told me...

What is particle pollution?

This is quoted from http://www.stateoftheair.org/2008/health-risks/health-risks-pm.html

What Is Particle Pollution?
Particle pollution refers to a mix of very tiny solid and liquid particles that are in the air we breathe. But nothing about particle pollution is simple. First of all, the particles themselves are different sizes. Some are one-tenth the diameter of a strand of hair. Many are even tinier; some are so small they can only be seen with an electron microscope. Because of their size, you can’t see the individual particles. You can only see the haze that forms when millions of particles blur the spread of sunlight. You may not be able to tell when you’re breathing particle pollution. Yet it is so dangerous it can shorten your life.

The differences in size make a big difference in how they affect us. Our natural defenses help us to cough or sneeze larger particles out of our bodies. But those defenses don’t keep out smaller particles, those that are smaller than 10 microns (or micrometers) in diameter, or about one-seventh the diameter of a single human hair. These particles get trapped in the lungs, while the smallest are so minutethat they can pass through the lungs into the blood stream, just like the essential oxygen molecules we need to survive.

Researchers categorize particles according to size, grouping them as coarse, fine and ultrafine. Coarse particles fall between 2.5 microns and 10 microns in diameter and are called PM10-2.5. Fine particles are 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller and are called PM2.5. Ultrafine particles are smaller than 0.1 micron in diameter¹¹ and are small enough to pass through the lung tissue into the blood stream, circulating like the oxygen molecules themselves. No matter what the size, particles can be harmful to your health.

Because particles are formed in so many different ways, they also can be composed of many different compounds. Although we often think of particles as solids, not all are. Some are completely liquid; some are solids suspended in liquids. As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency puts it, particles are really “a mixture of mixtures.”¹² The mixtures differ between the eastern and western United States. For example, the eastern states have more sulfate particles than the west, largely due to the high levels of sulfur dioxide emitted by large, coal-fired power plants. By contrast, in Southern California, nitrate particles from motor vehicle exhaust form a larger proportion of the unhealthful mix.¹³

State of the Air Report

http://www.stateoftheair.org/ provides a map to your state and city's air quality!
San Francisco got an 'A' grade for ozone, so ozone is not the cause for my asthma.
However San Francisco got an 'F' for particle pollution... so that may be a contributing factor.

http://www.stateoftheair.org/2008/states/california/particle-pollution.html

I need however a breakdown of how that value was calculated.

Air Pollution Basics

Two types of air pollution are especially dangerous to breathe—ozone (smog) and particle pollution (soot). The American Lung Association State of the Air 2008 report ranks cities most affected by ozone pollution, short-term and year-round particle pollution.

Ozone (O3)

• Ozone is an invisible gas that is formed most often by a reaction of sunlight and vapors emitted when fuel is burned by cars and trucks, factories, power plants and other sources. Ozone usually peaks in the summer months, from May through October, when temperatures are highest and sunlight is strongest.
• Ozone reacts chemically ("oxidizes") with internal body tissues with which it comes in contact. Like sunburn irritates the skin, it especially irritates the respiratory tract, and can cause health problems the day you breathe in high levels of smog or after long-term exposure.
• Ozone is particularly dangerous for people with asthma and other chronic lung diseases, senior citizens, children and teens. It can cause asthma attacks, coughing and wheezing, shortness of breath, chest pain when inhaling deeply, and even premature death. Breathing high levels of ozone repeatedly over the long term may also lead to impaired lung function, inflamed lung lining, and increased breathing problems.

Particle Pollution

• Particle pollution is the most dangerous of the widespread outdoor air pollutants. It is typically made up of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols. Particle levels can spike dangerously for hours to weeks on end (short-term) or reach high levels for most of the year (year-round).
• Breathing particle pollution can kill. Breathing particle pollution year-round can shorten life by one to three years. It triggers heart attacks, strokes, irregular heartbeats, and causes lung cancer and premature births. Particle pollution harms people in many ways, even when the particle levels are very low. Particle pollution worsens serious respiratory disorders, including asthma and causes wheezing and coughing.
• In the eastern U.S., many particles come from power plants that burn coal to produce electricity. In the western U.S., particles come from diesel buses, trucks and heavy equipment, agriculture and wood burning.
• The body’s natural defenses help to cough or sneeze larger particles out of our bodies. But smaller particles can be so tiny that they can become lodged deep in the lungs and cause major damage, or pass from the lungs into the blood stream and then throughout the rest of the body.