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Rogula-Kozłowska W, Piątek P, Kozielska B, Walczak A. Off-gassing from firefighter suits (nomex) as an indoor source of BTEXS. CHEMOSPHERE 2024; 350:140996. [PMID: 38141684 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Revised: 11/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023]
Abstract
The clothes and special equipment of firefighters can be a source of indoor air pollution. Nevertheless, it has not been investigated so far what the scale of the release of various compounds from such materials into the indoor air can be. The following study analysed the results of an experiment involving the passive measurement of concentrations of selected compounds, i.a. benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m,p-xylene, o-xylene, styrene, isopropylbenzene and n-propylbenzene (BTEXS) in the air of a room where firefighters' special clothing, which had been previously exposed to emissions from simulated fires, was stored. The study included simulations of fires involving three materials: wood, processed wood (OSB/fibreboard) and a mixture of plastics. After being exposed to the simulated fire environment, special clothing (so-called nomex) was placed in a sealed chamber, where passive collection of BTEXS was carried out using tube-type axial passive samplers and a gas chromatograph. Irrespective of which burned material special clothing was exposed to, the compound emitted into the air most intensively was toluene. Its rate of release from a single nomex ranges from 4.4 to 28.6 μg h-1, while the corresponding rates for the sum of BTEXS are between 9.97 and 44.29 μg h-1.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Piotr Piątek
- Fire University, 52/54 Słowackiego St., 01-629, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Barbara Kozielska
- Silesian University of Technology, 22B Konarskiego St., 44-100, Gliwice, Poland.
| | - Agata Walczak
- Fire University, 52/54 Słowackiego St., 01-629, Warsaw, Poland.
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Chew BS, Trinh NN, Koch DT, Borras E, Levasseur MK, Simms LA, McCartney MM, Gibson P, Kenyon NJ, Davis CE. Data-Driven Approach to Modeling Microfabricated Chemical Sensor Manufacturing. Anal Chem 2024; 96:364-372. [PMID: 38156894 PMCID: PMC11015434 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c04394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
We have developed a statistical model-based approach to the quality analysis (QA) and quality control (QC) of a gas micro pre-concentrator chip (μPC) performance when manufactured at scale for chemical and biochemical analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To test the proposed model, a medium-sized university-led production batch of 30 wafers of chips were subjected to rigorous chemical performance testing. We quantitatively report the outcomes of each manufacturing process step leading to the final functional chemical sensor chip. We implemented a principal component analysis (PCA) model to score individual chip chemical performance, and we observed that the first two principal components represent 74.28% of chemical testing variance with 111 of 118 viable chips falling into the 95% confidence interval. Chemical performance scores and chip manufacturing data were analyzed using a multivariate regression model to determine the most influential manufacturing parameters and steps. In our analysis, we find the amount of sorbent mass present in the chip (variable importance score = 2.6) and heater and the RTD resistance values (variable importance score = 1.1) to be the manufacturing parameters with the greatest impact on chemical performance. Other non-obvious latent manufacturing parameters also had quantified influence. Statistical distributions for each manufacturing step will allow future large-scale production runs to be statistically sampled during production to perform QA/QC in a real-time environment. We report this study as the first data-driven, model-based production of a microfabricated chemical sensor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradley S. Chew
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- UC Davis Lung Center, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
| | - Nhi N. Trinh
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- UC Davis Lung Center, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
| | - Dylan T. Koch
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- UC Davis Lung Center, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
| | - Eva Borras
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- UC Davis Lung Center, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
| | - Michael K. Levasseur
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- UC Davis Lung Center, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
| | - Leslie A. Simms
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- UC Davis Lung Center, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
| | - Mitchell M. McCartney
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- UC Davis Lung Center, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- VA Northern California Health Care System, 10535 Hospital Way, Mather, CA 95655
| | - Patrick Gibson
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- UC Davis Lung Center, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
| | - Nicholas J. Kenyon
- UC Davis Lung Center, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- VA Northern California Health Care System, 10535 Hospital Way, Mather, CA 95655
- Department of Internal Medicine, 4150 V Street, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817
| | - Cristina E. Davis
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- UC Davis Lung Center, One Shields Avenue, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
- VA Northern California Health Care System, 10535 Hospital Way, Mather, CA 95655
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3
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Borras E, Wang Y, Shah P, Bellido K, Hamera KL, Arlen RA, McCartney MM, Portillo K, Zhou H, Davis CE, Turpen TH. Active sampling of volatile chemicals for non-invasive classification of chicken eggs by sex early in incubation. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0285726. [PMID: 37216348 PMCID: PMC10202283 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
According to industry estimates, approximately 7 billion day-old male chicks are disposed of annually worldwide because they are not of use to the layer industry. A practical process to identify the sex of the egg early in incubation without penetrating the egg would improve animal welfare, reduce food waste and mitigate environmental impact. We implemented a moderate vacuum pressure system through commercial egg-handling suction cups to collect volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Three separate experiments were set up to determine optimal conditions to collect eggs VOCs to discriminate male from female embryos. Optimal extraction time (2 min), storage conditions (short period of incubation during egg storage (SPIDES) at days 8-10 of incubation), and sampling temperature (37.5°C) were determined. Our VOC-based method could correctly differentiate male from female embryos with more than 80% accuracy. These specifications are compatible with the design of specialized automation equipment capable of high-throughput, in-ovo sexing based on chemical sensor microchips.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Borras
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States of America
- UC Davis Lung Center, Davis, CA, United States of America
| | - Ying Wang
- Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
| | - Priyanka Shah
- SensIT Ventures, Inc., Davis, CA, United States of America
| | - Kevin Bellido
- Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
| | - Katherine L. Hamera
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States of America
- UC Davis Lung Center, Davis, CA, United States of America
| | | | - Mitchell M. McCartney
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States of America
- UC Davis Lung Center, Davis, CA, United States of America
- VA Northern California Health Care System, Mather, CA, United States of America
| | - Kristy Portillo
- Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
| | - Huaijun Zhou
- Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
| | - Cristina E. Davis
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States of America
- UC Davis Lung Center, Davis, CA, United States of America
- VA Northern California Health Care System, Mather, CA, United States of America
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Ragbir P, Kaduwela A, Passovoy D, Amin P, Ye S, Wallis C, Alaimo C, Young T, Kong Z. UAV-Based Wildland Fire Air Toxics Data Collection and Analysis. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 23:3561. [PMID: 37050621 PMCID: PMC10098707 DOI: 10.3390/s23073561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2023] [Revised: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Smoke plumes emitted from wildland-urban interface (WUI) wildfires contain toxic chemical substances that are harmful to human health, mainly due to the burning of synthetic components. Accurate measurement of these air toxics is necessary for understanding their impacts on human health. However, air pollution is typically measured using ground-based sensors, manned airplanes, or satellites, which all provide low-resolution data. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have the potential to provide high-resolution spatial and temporal data due to their ability to hover in specific locations and maneuver with precise trajectories in 3-D space. This study investigates the use of an octocopter UAV, equipped with a customized air quality sensor package and a volatile organic compound (VOC) air sampler, for the purposes of collecting and analyzing air toxics data from wildfire plumes. The UAV prototype developed has been successfully tested during several prescribed fires conducted by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). Data from these experiments were analyzed with emphasis on the relationship between the air toxics measured and the different types of vegetation/fuel burnt. BTEX compounds were found to be more abundant for hardwood burning compared to grassland burning, as expected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prabhash Ragbir
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (P.R.); (P.A.); (S.Y.)
| | - Ajith Kaduwela
- Air Quality Research Center, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (A.K.); (C.W.)
| | - David Passovoy
- California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 715 P St., Sacramento, CA 95814, USA;
| | - Preet Amin
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (P.R.); (P.A.); (S.Y.)
| | - Shuchen Ye
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (P.R.); (P.A.); (S.Y.)
| | - Christopher Wallis
- Air Quality Research Center, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (A.K.); (C.W.)
| | - Christopher Alaimo
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (C.A.); (T.Y.)
| | - Thomas Young
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (C.A.); (T.Y.)
| | - Zhaodan Kong
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (P.R.); (P.A.); (S.Y.)
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Rajapakse MY, Pistochini TE, Borras E, McCartney MM, Davis CE. Controlled air exchange rate method to evaluate reduction of volatile organic compounds by indoor air cleaners. CHEMOSPHERE 2023; 313:137528. [PMID: 36528164 PMCID: PMC10108428 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Air cleaning technologies are needed to reduce indoor concentrations and exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Currently, air cleaning technologies lack an accepted test standard to evaluate their VOC removal performance. A protocol to evaluate the VOC removal performance of air cleaning devices was developed and piloted with two devices. This method injects a VOC mixture and carbon dioxide into a test chamber, supplies outdoor air at a standard building ventilation rate, periodically measures the VOC concentrations in the chamber using solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry over a 3-h decay period, and compares the decay rate of VOCs to carbon dioxide to measure the VOC removal air cleaning performance. The method was demonstrated with both a hydroxyl radical generator and an activated carbon air cleaner. It was shown that the activated carbon air cleaner device tested had a clean air delivery rate an order of magnitude greater than the hydroxyl radical generator device (72.10 vs 6.32 m3/h).
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Affiliation(s)
- Maneeshin Y Rajapakse
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA; UC Davis Lung Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Theresa E Pistochini
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA; Western Cooling Efficiency Center, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Eva Borras
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA; UC Davis Lung Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Mitchell M McCartney
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA; UC Davis Lung Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA; VA Northern California Health Care System, Mather, CA, USA
| | - Cristina E Davis
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA; UC Davis Lung Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA; VA Northern California Health Care System, Mather, CA, USA.
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6
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Interpol review of fire debris analysis and fire investigation 2019-2022. Forensic Sci Int Synerg 2022; 6:100310. [PMID: 36578979 PMCID: PMC9791831 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsisyn.2022.100310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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Dickinson GN, Miller DD, Bajracharya A, Bruchard W, Durbin TA, McGarry JKP, Moser EP, Nuñez LA, Pukkila EJ, Scott PS, Sutton PJ, Johnston NAC. Health Risk Implications of Volatile Organic Compounds in Wildfire Smoke During the 2019 FIREX-AQ Campaign and Beyond. GEOHEALTH 2022; 6:e2021GH000546. [PMID: 36017488 PMCID: PMC9393878 DOI: 10.1029/2021gh000546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality was a NOAA/NASA collaborative campaign conducted during the summer of 2019. The objectives included identifying and quantifying wildfire composition, smoke evolution, and climate and health impacts of wildfires and agricultural fires in the United States. Ground based mobile sampling via sorbent tubes occurred at the Nethker and Williams Flats fires (2019) and Chief Timothy and Whitetail Loop fires (2020) in Idaho and Washington. Air samples were analyzed through thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for a variety of volatile organic compounds to elucidate both composition and health impacts. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, butenes, phenol, isoprene and pinenes were observed in the wildfire smoke, with benzene ranging from 0.04 to 25 ppbv. Health risk was assessed for each fire by determining sub-chronic (wildfire event) and projected chronic inhalation risk exposure from benzene, a carcinogen, as well as other non-carcinogenic compounds including toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and hexane. The cancer risk of benzene from sub-chronic exposure was 1 extra cancer per million people and ranged from 1 to 19 extra cancers per million people for the projected chronic scenarios, compared to a background level of 1 extra cancer per million people. The hazard index of non-carcinogenic compounds was less than one for all scenarios and wildfires sampled, which was considered low risk for non-cancer health events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle N. Dickinson
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
| | - Dylan D. Miller
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
| | - Aakriti Bajracharya
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
| | - William Bruchard
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
| | - Timbre A. Durbin
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
| | - John K. P. McGarry
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
| | - Elijah P. Moser
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
| | - Laurel A. Nuñez
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
| | - Elias J. Pukkila
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
| | - Phillip S. Scott
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
| | - Parke J. Sutton
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
| | - Nancy A. C. Johnston
- Physical, Life, Movement, and Sport Sciences DivisionLewis‐Clark State CollegeLewistonIDUSA
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Integration of a Micropreconcentrator with Solid-phase Microextraction for Analysis of Trace Volatile Organic Compounds by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. J Chromatogr A 2022; 1673:463083. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2021] [Revised: 04/18/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Namit A, Dowell W, Matiasek S, Webster J, Stachura DL. Pentachlorophenol has significant adverse effects on hematopoietic and immune system development in zebrafish (Danio rerio). PLoS One 2022; 17:e0265618. [PMID: 35333877 PMCID: PMC8956169 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In November 2018, the Camp Fire devastated the mountain community of Paradise, CA. The burning of plastic pipes, wiring, construction materials, paint, and car batteries released toxic chemicals into the environment, contaminating the air, soil, and local waterways. Examples of toxins that were identified in the creeks and waterways in and around Paradise included pentachlorophenol (PCP), chrysene, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. The effects of some of these chemicals on embryonic development, hematopoiesis (blood formation), and the immune system have not been thoroughly studied. Defining safe levels and the long-term effects of exposure is imperative to understanding and mitigating potential negative future outcomes. To perform these studies, we utilized zebrafish (Danio rerio), a commonly used vertebrate model system to study development. We observed the adverse effects of PCP on the development of zebrafish by using fluorescence microscopy, and saw that increased concentrations of PCP decreased the numbers of normal red blood cells and myeloid cells. Additionally, we observed that animal survival decreased in response to increasing concentrations of PCP. Furthermore, the prevalence of characteristic physical deformities such as tail curvature were greater in the treatment groups. Lastly, runx1, cmyb, and cd41 expression was reduced in fish treated with PCP. These results suggest that PCP has a previously underappreciated effect on blood and immune cell development and future studies should be performed to determine the molecular mechanisms involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleeza Namit
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Chico, Chico, CA, United States of America
| | - William Dowell
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Chico, Chico, CA, United States of America
| | - Sandrine Matiasek
- Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, California State University Chico, Chico, CA, United States of America
| | - Jackson Webster
- Department of Civil Engineering, California State University Chico, Chico, CA, United States of America
| | - David L. Stachura
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Chico, Chico, CA, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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