1
|
Rice RB, Boaggio K, Olson NE, Foley KM, Weaver CP, Sacks JD, McDow SR, Holder AL, LeDuc SD. Wildfires Increase Concentrations of Hazardous Air Pollutants in Downwind Communities. Environ Sci Technol 2023; 57:21235-21248. [PMID: 38051783 PMCID: PMC10862657 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c04153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Due in part to climate change, wildfire activity is increasing, with the potential for greater public health impact from smoke in downwind communities. Studies examining the health effects of wildfire smoke have focused primarily on fine particulate matter (PM2.5), but there is a need to better characterize other constituents, such as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). HAPs are chemicals known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects that are regulated by the United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency. Here, we analyzed concentrations of 21 HAPs in wildfire smoke from 2006 to 2020 at 309 monitors across the western US. Additionally, we examined HAP concentrations measured in a major population center (San Jose, CA) affected by multiple fires from 2017 to 2020. We found that concentrations of select HAPs, namely acetaldehyde, acrolein, chloroform, formaldehyde, manganese, and tetrachloroethylene, were all significantly elevated on smoke-impacted versus nonsmoke days (P < 0.05). The largest median increase on smoke-impacted days was observed for formaldehyde, 1.3 μg/m3 (43%) higher than that on nonsmoke days. Acetaldehyde increased 0.73 μg/m3 (36%), and acrolein increased 0.14 μg/m3 (34%). By better characterizing these chemicals in wildfire smoke, we anticipate that this research will aid efforts to reduce exposures in downwind communities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R Byron Rice
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Durham, North Carolina 27709, United States
| | - Katie Boaggio
- US EPA, Office of Air and Radiation, Durham, North Carolina 27709, United States
| | - Nicole E Olson
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Durham, North Carolina 27709, United States
| | - Kristen M Foley
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Durham, North Carolina 27709, United States
| | - Christopher P Weaver
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Durham, North Carolina 27709, United States
| | - Jason D Sacks
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Durham, North Carolina 27709, United States
| | - Stephen R McDow
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Durham, North Carolina 27709, United States
| | - Amara L Holder
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Durham, North Carolina 27709, United States
| | - Stephen D LeDuc
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Durham, North Carolina 27709, United States
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Paul MJ, LeDuc SD, Boaggio K, Herrick JD, Kaylor SD, Lassiter MG, Nolte CG, Rice RB. Effects of Air Pollutants from Wildfires on Downwind Ecosystems: Observations, Knowledge Gaps, and Questions for Assessing Risk. Environ Sci Technol 2023; 57:14787-14796. [PMID: 37769297 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/30/2023]
Abstract
Wildfires have increased in frequency and area burned, trends expected to continue with climate change. Among other effects, fires release pollutants into the atmosphere, representing a risk to human health and downwind terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. While human health risks are well studied, the ecological impacts to downwind ecosystems are not, and this gap may present a constraint on developing an adequate assessment of the ecological risks associated with downwind wildfire exposure. Here, we first screened the scientific literature to assess general knowledge about pathways and end points of a conceptual model linking wildfire generated pollutants and other materials to downwind ecosystems. We found a substantial body of literature on the composition of wildfire derived pollution and materials in the atmosphere and subsequent transport, yet little observational or experimental work on their effects on downwind ecological end points. This dearth of information raises many questions related to adequately assessing the ecological risk of downwind exposure, especially given increasing wildfire trends. To guide future research, we pose eight questions within the well-established US EPA ecological risk assessment paradigm that if answered would greatly improve ecological risk assessment and, ultimately, management strategies needed to reduce potential wildfire impacts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Paul
- Tetra Tech Inc., PO Box 14409, Durham, North Carolina 27709 United States
| | - Stephen D LeDuc
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711 United States
| | - Katie Boaggio
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711 United States
| | - Jeffrey D Herrick
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711 United States
| | - S Douglas Kaylor
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711 United States
| | - Meredith G Lassiter
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711 United States
| | - Christopher G Nolte
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711 United States
| | - R Byron Rice
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711 United States
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Olson NE, Boaggio KL, Rice RB, Foley KM, LeDuc SD. Wildfires in the western United States are mobilizing PM 2.5-associated nutrients and may be contributing to downwind cyanobacteria blooms. Environ Sci Process Impacts 2023; 25:1049-1066. [PMID: 37232758 PMCID: PMC10585592 DOI: 10.1039/d3em00042g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Wildfire activity is increasing in the continental U.S. and can be linked to climate change effects, including rising temperatures and more frequent drought conditions. Wildfire emissions and large fire frequency have increased in the western U.S., impacting human health and ecosystems. We linked 15 years (2006-2020) of particulate matter (PM2.5) chemical speciation data with smoke plume analysis to identify PM2.5-associated nutrients elevated in air samples on smoke-impacted days. Most macro- and micro-nutrients analyzed (phosphorus, calcium, potassium, sodium, silicon, aluminum, iron, manganese, and magnesium) were significantly elevated on smoke days across all years analyzed. The largest percent increase was observed for phosphorus. With the exception of ammonium, all other nutrients (nitrate, copper, and zinc), although not statistically significant, had higher median values across all years on smoke vs. non-smoke days. Not surprisingly, there was high variation between smoke impacted days, with some nutrients episodically elevated >10 000% during select fire events. Beyond nutrients, we also explored instances where algal blooms occurred in multiple lakes downwind from high-nutrient fires. In these cases, remotely sensed cyanobacteria indices in downwind lakes increased two to seven days following the occurrence of wildfire smoke above the lake. This suggests that elevated nutrients in wildfire smoke may contribute to downwind algal blooms. Since cyanobacteria blooms can be associated with the production of cyanotoxins and wildfire activity is increasing due to climate change, this finding has implications for drinking water reservoirs in the western United States, and for lake ecology, particularly alpine lakes with otherwise limited nutrient inputs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicole E Olson
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
| | - Katie L Boaggio
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - R Byron Rice
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
| | - Kristen M Foley
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
| | - Stephen D LeDuc
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Lee EH, Andersen CP, Beedlow PA, Tingey DT, Koike S, Dubois JJ, Kaylor SD, Novak K, Rice RB, Neufeld HS, Herrick JD. Ozone exposure-response relationships parametrized for sixteen tree species with varying sensitivity in the United States. Atmos Environ (1994) 2022; 284:1-16. [PMID: 35775067 PMCID: PMC9237886 DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2022.119191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
It is well known that exposure to ambient O3 can decrease growth in many tree species in the United States (US). Our study reports experimental data from outdoor open-top chamber (OTC) studies that quantify total biomass response changes for seedlings of 16 species native to western and eastern North America, which were exposed to several levels of elevated O3 for one or more years. The primary objective of this study is to establish a reference set of parameters for these seedling exposure-response relationships using a 3-month (92 day) 12-hr W126 O3 metric used by US Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies to assess risk to trees from O3 exposure. We classified the 16 species according to their sensitivity, based on the biomass loss response functions to protect from a 5% biomass loss. The three-month 12-h W126 estimated to result in a 5% biomass loss was 2.5-9.2 ppm-h for sensitive species, 20.8-25.2 ppm-h for intermediate species, and > 28.7 ppm-h for insensitive species. The most sensitive tree species include black cherry, ponderosa pine, quaking aspen, red alder, American sycamore, tulip poplar and winged sumac. These species are ecologically important and widespread across US. The effects of O3 on whole-plant biomass depended on exposure duration and dynamics and on the number of successive years of exposure. These species-specific exposure-response relationships will allow US agencies and other groups to better estimate biomass losses based on ozone exposures in North America and can be used in risk assessment and scenario analyses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- E Henry Lee
- US Environmental Protection Agency, 200 SW 35 Street, Corvallis, OR 97333
| | | | - Peter A Beedlow
- US Environmental Protection Agency, 200 SW 35 Street, Corvallis, OR 97333
| | - David T Tingey
- US Environmental Protection Agency, 200 SW 35 Street, Corvallis, OR 97333 (Retired)
| | - Seiji Koike
- Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 200 SW 35 Street, Corvallis, OR 97333
| | | | - S Douglas Kaylor
- US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, RTP, NC 27711
| | - Kristopher Novak
- US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, RTP, NC 27711
| | - R Byron Rice
- US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, RTP, NC 27711
| | - Howard S Neufeld
- Department of Biology, Appalachian State University, 572 Rivers Street, Boone, NC 28608
| | - Jeffrey D Herrick
- US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, RTP, NC 27711
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Rappazzo KM, Nichols JL, Rice RB, Luben TJ. Ozone exposure during early pregnancy and preterm birth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environ Res 2021; 198:111317. [PMID: 33989623 PMCID: PMC8221456 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2021] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to ozone has been linked to reproductive outcomes, including preterm birth. In this systematic review, we summarize published epidemiologic cohort and case-control studies examining ozone exposures (estimated on a continuous scale) in early pregnancy (1st and 2nd trimesters (T1, T2)) and preterm birth using ratio measures, and perform a meta-analysis to evaluate the potential relationship between them. Studies were identified by searching PubMed and Web of Science, screened according to predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria, and evaluated for study quality. We extracted study data including effect estimates, confidence limits, study location, study years, ozone exposure assessment method, and mean or median ozone concentrations. Nineteen studies were identified and included, of which 18 examined T1 exposure (17 reported effect estimates), and 15 examined T2 exposure. Random effects meta-analysis was performed in the metafor package, R 3.5.3. The pooled OR (95% CI) for a 10 ppb increase in ozone exposure in T1 was 1.06 (1.03, 1.10) with a 95% prediction interval of 0.95, 1.19; for T2 it was 1.05 (1.02, 1.08) with a 95% prediction interval of 0.95, 1.16. Effect estimates for both exposure periods showed high heterogeneity. In meta-regression analyses of study characteristics, study location (continent) explained some (~20%) heterogeneity for T1 exposure studies, but no characteristic explained a substantial amount of heterogeneity for T2 exposure studies. Increased ozone exposure during early pregnancy is associated with preterm birth across studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kristen M Rappazzo
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, USA.
| | - Jennifer L Nichols
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, USA
| | - R Byron Rice
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, USA
| | - Thomas J Luben
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Affiliation(s)
- N R White
- Orthopedic/Transplant Unit, Georgetown Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Affiliation(s)
- R B Rice
- National Program Office, Colleagues in Caring, Regional Collaboratives for Nursing Work Force Development, Washington, DC, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
8
|
Affiliation(s)
- M F Rapson
- Regional Collaboratives for Nursing Workforce Development, Washington, DC, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Abstract
The areas mentioned in this article are only a few of the challenges that will be tackled in Phase II of CIC. In future Colleges in Caring articles in the Journal of Nursing Education, selected topics will be discussed, including use of technology, educational mobility, and conversion of data into educational policy. In addition, selected CIC grantee projects wil be featured, describing their educational initiatives and best practices. No one individual or organization has the expertise or solutions to mold health care and education for the future. The CIC Program has formed vital regional networks where mutual responsibility, interrelationships, information sharing, and collaboration are the norm. They are openly discussing their product--nursing care--in an economic, political, and social context. Their focus is on developing evidence-based policy that will benefit the quality of nursing care in the future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M F Rapson
- Robert Wood Johnson Colleagues in Caring: Regional Collaboratives for Nursing Workforce Development, Washington, DC 20036, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Abstract
Responding to demands that nursing leaders conduct business in creative, proactive ways, the authors of this department share the work of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's national program. Colleagues in Caring: Regional Collaboratives for Nursing Work Force Development. The purpose of this initiative is to enhance regional and state collaborative planning and implement actions and policies to address the rapid changes occurring in the United States nursing labor market. This department presents the ongoing work of the program, highlighting the work of the 20 individual collaboratives. Regional approaches to the expected program outcomes and specific challenges and opportunities that are unique to each region's environment are included. The Colleagues in Caring program is administered by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Current information on the initiative can be found at http:/(/)www.aacn.nche.edu under Special Projects. The staff at the National Program Office can be reached at 202/496-1095 (fax: 202/496-1093).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R B Rice
- Colleagues in Caring: Regional Collaboratives for Nursing Development, Washington, DC, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
11
|
Affiliation(s)
- M F Rapson
- Colleagues in Caring: Regional Collaboratives for Nursing Work Force Development, Washington, DC, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
12
|
Walling AD, Kallail KJ, Phillips D, Rice RB. The epidemiology of bacterial meningitis. J Am Board Fam Pract 1991; 4:307-11. [PMID: 1746298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The incidence by age and causative organism of bacterial meningitis are not known on a community basis. METHODS The epidemiology of bacterial meningitis in a metropolitan county was studied by identifying all cases admitted to a hospital from 1983 through 1987. RESULTS The overall incidence of bacterial meningitis was 5 per 100,000 person-years, but numbers of cases ranged from 40 per 100,000 for children younger than 5 years to 1.0 per 100,000 in adults aged between 16 and 64 years. No significant excesses of cases were found in male patients or in blacks. The predominant causative organism varied with age. Overall, Haemophilus influenzae was the most common causative organism, but 32 percent of cases were due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. Case fatality rates were high for S. pneumoniae (12.5 percent) and very high for the small number of elderly patients suffering from bacterial meningitis. CONCLUSIONS Significant declines have occurred in the last decade in the incidence of bacterial meningitis in children, particularly in those younger than 5 years, and in disease caused by H. influenzae and group B streptococcus.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A D Walling
- Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita 67214-3199
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Abstract
The incidence of H. influenzae meningitis in children under five years of age was monitored during the years 1983-87 by a retrospective study of records from all hospitals serving a metropolitan county in Kansas. The mean annual incidence rate for the five years studied was 26.0 per 100,000. This compares with a mean of 56.0 per 100,000 measured in the same county during 1979-82.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R B Rice
- Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichtita
| | | | | |
Collapse
|