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Ewing SA, Christensen JN, Brown ST, Vancuren RA, Cliff SS, Depaolo DJ. Pb isotopes as an indicator of the Asian contribution to particulate air pollution in urban California. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2010; 44:8911-8916. [PMID: 21033735 DOI: 10.1021/es101450t] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
During the last two decades, expanding industrial activity in east Asia has led to increased production of airborne pollutants that can be transported to North America. Previous efforts to detect this trans-Pacific pollution have relied upon remote sensing and remote sample locations. We tested whether Pb isotope ratios in airborne particles can be used to directly evaluate the Asian contribution to airborne particles of anthropogenic origin in western North America, using a time series of samples from a pair of sites upwind and downwind of the San Francisco Bay Area. Our results for airborne Pb at these sites indicate a median value of 29% Asian origin, based on mixing relations between distinct regional sample groups. This trans-Pacific Pb is present in small quantities but serves as a tracer for airborne particles within the growing Asian industrial plume. We then applied this analysis to archived samples from urban sites in central California. Taken together, our results suggest that the analysis of Pb isotopes can reveal the distribution of airborne particles affected by Asian industrial pollution at urban sites in northern California. Under suitable circumstances, this analysis can improve understanding of the global transport of pollution, independent of transport models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie A Ewing
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
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Smith KR, Jerrett M, Anderson HR, Burnett RT, Stone V, Derwent R, Atkinson RW, Cohen A, Shonkoff SB, Krewski D, Pope CA, Thun MJ, Thurston G. Public health benefits of strategies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions: health implications of short-lived greenhouse pollutants. Lancet 2009; 374:2091-2103. [PMID: 19942276 PMCID: PMC4059357 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(09)61716-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 180] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
In this report we review the health effects of three short-lived greenhouse pollutants-black carbon, ozone, and sulphates. We undertook new meta-analyses of existing time-series studies and an analysis of a cohort of 352,000 people in 66 US cities during 18 years of follow-up. This cohort study provides estimates of mortality effects from long-term exposure to elemental carbon, an indicator of black carbon mass, and evidence that ozone exerts an independent risk of mortality. Associations among these pollutants make drawing conclusions about their individual health effects difficult at present, but sulphate seems to have the most robust effects in multiple-pollutant models. Generally, the toxicology of the pure compounds and their epidemiology diverge because atmospheric black carbon, ozone, and sulphate are associated and could interact with related toxic species. Although sulphate is a cooling agent, black carbon and ozone could together exert nearly half as much global warming as carbon dioxide. The complexity of these health and climate effects needs to be recognised in mitigation policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirk R Smith
- School of Public Health, University of alifornia, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Michael Jerrett
- School of Public Health, University of alifornia, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - H Ross Anderson
- Division of Community Health Sciences, MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, St George's, University of London, London, UK; Environmental Research Group, MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, King's College, London, UK
| | | | | | | | - Richard W Atkinson
- Division of Community Health Sciences, MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, St George's, University of London, London, UK
| | | | - Seth B Shonkoff
- School of Public Health, University of alifornia, Berkeley, CA, USA; Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of alifornia, Berkeley, CA, USA
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