Introduction: The attention on environmental impact on human health is rising. But, the association between particulate matter 2.5 and birth weight is still not acknowledged in the global burden of diseases, and the association has not yet been studied in the Philippines. The aim was to explore how increasing/decreasing concentrations of particulate matter 2.5 in pregnant women’s residence area was associated with the risk of having a child with low birth weight in the Philippines. Method: 1462 women pregnant in 2016 from the Demographic and Health Survey done in the Philippines in 2017 were analyzed by exposure to particulate matter 2.5 in their residence area. Particulate matter 2.5 was derived from the DIMAQ model, which estimated the annual mean exposure based on a mix of methods. A logistic regression adjusted for demographic variables and variables important for fetal growth, and the birth season was done. Results: The results of the logistic regression when adjusted for all variables showed that the non-statistically significant odds of low birth weight in the children from to the particulate matter 2.5 categories: 7-10 μg/m3, 11-14 μg/m3, and 15-18 μg/m3 were respectively 21% lower (CI: 0.42-1.50), 33% lower (CI: 0.39-1.21) and 34% lower (CI: 0.39-1.14) compared to the highest exposure category of 19-22 μg/m3. Discussion: The study had several limitations in regard to the study design, especially in dealing with seasonal changes in low birth weight. Yet, the study did not disagree with the results from similar studies done in other countries or globally.

<p>Wood combustion is mainly used in cold regions as a primary or supplemental space heating source in residential areas. In several industrialized countries, there is a renewed interest in residential wood combustion (RWC) as an alternative to fossil fuel and nuclear power consumption. The main objective of this thesis was to investigate the impact of RWC on the air quality in urban areas. To this end, a field campaign was conducted in Northern Sweden during wintertime to characterize atmospheric aerosol particles and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and to determine their source apportionment.</p><p>A large day-to-day and hour-to-hour variability in aerosol concentrations was observed during the intensive field campaign. On average, total carbon contributed a substantial fraction of PM10 mass concentrations (46%) and aerosol particles were mostly in the fine fraction (PM1 accounted for 76% of PM10). Evening aerosol concentrations were significantly higher on weekends than on weekdays which could be associated to the use of wood burning for recreational purposes or higher space heat demand when inhabitants spend longer time at home. It has been shown that continuous aerosol particle number size distribution measurements successfully provided source apportionment of atmospheric aerosol with high temporal resolution. The first compound-specific radiocarbon analysis (CSRA) of atmospheric PAH demonstrated its potential to provide quantitative information on the RWC contribution to individual PAH. RWC accounted for a large fraction of particle number concentrations in the size range 25-606 nm (44-57%), PM10 (36-82%), PM1 (31-83%), light-absorbing carbon (40-76%) and individual PAH (71-87%) mass concentrations.</p><p>These studies have demonstrated that the impact of RWC on air quality in an urban location can be very important and largely exceed the contribution of vehicle emissions during winter, particularly under very stable atmospheric conditions.</p>

<p>Biomass is considered to be a sustainable energy source with significant potentials for replacing electricity and fossil fuels, not at least in the residential sector. However, present wood combustion is a major source of ambient concentrations of hydrocarbons (e.g. VOC and PAH) and particulate matter (PM) and exposure to these pollutants have been associated with adverse health effects. Increased focus on combustion related particulate emissions has been seen concerning the formation, characteristics and implications to human health. Upgraded biomass fuels (e.g. pellets) provide possibilities of more controlled and optimized combustion with less emission of products of incomplete combustion (PIC´s). For air quality and health impact assessments, regulatory standards and evaluations concerning residential biomass combustion, there is still a need for detailed emission characterization and quantification when using different fuels and combustion techniques.</p><p>This thesis summarizes the results from seven different papers. The overall objective was to carefully and systematically study the emissions from residential biomass combustion with respect to: i) experimental characterization and quantification, ii) influences of fuel, appliance and operational variables and iii) aspects of ash and trace element transformations and aerosol formation. Special concern in the work was on sampling, quantification and characterization of particulate emissions using different appliances, fuels and operating procedures.</p><p>An initial review of health effects showed epidemiological evidence of potential adverse effect from wood smoke exposure. A robust whole flow dilution sampling set-up for residential biomass appliances was then designed, constructed and evaluated, and subsequently used in the following emission studies. Extensive quantifications and characterizations of particulate and gases emissions were performed for residential wood and pellet appliances. Emission factor ranges for different stoves were determined with variations in fuel, appliance and operational properties. The emissions of PIC´s as well as PM_tot from wood combustion were in general shown to be considerably higher compared to pellets combustion. PAH_tot emissions were determined in the range of 1300-220000 µg/MJ for wood stoves and 2-300 µg/MJ for pellet stoves with phenantrene, fluoranthene and pyrene generally found as major PAH´s. The PM emissions from present residential appliances was found to consist of significant but varying fractions of PIC´s, with emissions in the range 35-350 mg/MJ for wood stoves compared to 15-45 mg/MJ for pellet stoves. Accordingly, the use of up-graded biomass fuels, combusted under continuous and controlled conditions give advantageous combustion conditions compared to traditional batch wise firing of wood logs. The importance of high temperature in well mixed isothermal conditions was further illustrated during pellets combustion to obtain complete combustion with almost a total depletion of PIC´s. Fine (100-300 nm) particles dominated in all studied cases the PM with 80-95% as PM1. Beside varying fractions of carbonaceous material, the fine PM consisted of inorganic volatilized ash elements, mainly found as KCl, K₃Na(SO₄)₂ and K₂SO₄ with mass concentrations at 15-20 mg/MJ during complete combustion. The importance of the behavior of alkali elements for the ash transformation and fine particle formation processes was further shown, since the stability, distributions and compositions also directly control the degree of volatilization. In addition to the alkali metals, zinc was found as an important element in fine particles from residential biomass combustion. Finally, the behaviour of volatile trace elements, e.g. Zn and Cd, during pellets production and combustion were studied. A significant enrichment in the pellet fuel during the drying process was determined. The magnitude and importance of the enrichment was, however, relative small and some alternative measures for prevention were also suggested.</p>

Engineering directly impacts current and future regulatory policy decisions. The foundation of air pollution control and air pollution dispersion modeling lies in the math, chemistry, and physics of the environment. Therefore, regulatory decision making must rely upon sound science and engineering as the core of appropriate policy making (objective analysis in lieu of subjective opinion). This research evaluated particulate matter and ammonia concentration data as well as two modeling methods, a backward Lagrangian stochastic model and a Gaussian plume dispersion model. This analysis assessed the uncertainty surrounding each sampling procedure in order to gain a better understanding of the uncertainty in the final emission rate calculation (a basis for federal regulation), and it assessed the differences between emission rates generated using two different dispersion models. First, this research evaluated the uncertainty encompassing the gravimetric sampling of particulate matter and the passive ammonia sampling technique at an animal feeding operation. Future research will be to further determine the wind velocity profile as well as determining the vertical temperature gradient during the modeling time period. This information will help quantify the uncertainty of the meteorological model inputs into the dispersion model, which will aid in understanding the propagated uncertainty in the dispersion modeling outputs. Next, an evaluation of the emission rates generated by both the Industrial Source Complex (Gaussian) model and the WindTrax (backward-Lagrangian stochastic) model revealed that the calculated emission concentrations from each model using the average emission rate generated by the model are extremely close in value. However, the average emission rates calculated by the models vary by a factor of 10. This is extremely troubling. In conclusion, current and future sources are regulated based on emission rate data from previous time periods. Emission factors are published for regulation of various sources, and these emission factors are derived based upon back-calculated model emission rates and site management practices. Thus, this factor of 10 ratio in the emission rates could prove troubling in terms of regulation if the model that the emission rate is back-calculated from is not used as the model to predict a future downwind pollutant concentration.

Biomass is considered to be a sustainable energy source with significant potentials for replacing electricity and fossil fuels, not at least in the residential sector. However, present wood combustion is a major source of ambient concentrations of hydrocarbons (e.g. VOC and PAH) and particulate matter (PM) and exposure to these pollutants have been associated with adverse health effects. Increased focus on combustion related particulate emissions has been seen concerning the formation, characteristics and implications to human health. Upgraded biomass fuels (e.g. pellets) provide possibilities of more controlled and optimized combustion with less emission of products of incomplete combustion (PIC´s). For air quality and health impact assessments, regulatory standards and evaluations concerning residential biomass combustion, there is still a need for detailed emission characterization and quantification when using different fuels and combustion techniques. This thesis summarizes the results from seven different papers. The overall objective was to carefully and systematically study the emissions from residential biomass combustion with respect to: i) experimental characterization and quantification, ii) influences of fuel, appliance and operational variables and iii) aspects of ash and trace element transformations and aerosol formation. Special concern in the work was on sampling, quantification and characterization of particulate emissions using different appliances, fuels and operating procedures. An initial review of health effects showed epidemiological evidence of potential adverse effect from wood smoke exposure. A robust whole flow dilution sampling set-up for residential biomass appliances was then designed, constructed and evaluated, and subsequently used in the following emission studies. Extensive quantifications and characterizations of particulate and gases emissions were performed for residential wood and pellet appliances. Emission factor ranges for different stoves were determined with variations in fuel, appliance and operational properties. The emissions of PIC´s as well as PMtot from wood combustion were in general shown to be considerably higher compared to pellets combustion. PAHtot emissions were determined in the range of 1300-220000 µg/MJ for wood stoves and 2-300 µg/MJ for pellet stoves with phenantrene, fluoranthene and pyrene generally found as major PAH´s. The PM emissions from present residential appliances was found to consist of significant but varying fractions of PIC´s, with emissions in the range 35-350 mg/MJ for wood stoves compared to 15-45 mg/MJ for pellet stoves. Accordingly, the use of up-graded biomass fuels, combusted under continuous and controlled conditions give advantageous combustion conditions compared to traditional batch wise firing of wood logs. The importance of high temperature in well mixed isothermal conditions was further illustrated during pellets combustion to obtain complete combustion with almost a total depletion of PIC´s. Fine (100-300 nm) particles dominated in all studied cases the PM with 80-95% as PM1. Beside varying fractions of carbonaceous material, the fine PM consisted of inorganic volatilized ash elements, mainly found as KCl, K3Na(SO4)2 and K2SO4 with mass concentrations at 15-20 mg/MJ during complete combustion. The importance of the behavior of alkali elements for the ash transformation and fine particle formation processes was further shown, since the stability, distributions and compositions also directly control the degree of volatilization. In addition to the alkali metals, zinc was found as an important element in fine particles from residential biomass combustion. Finally, the behaviour of volatile trace elements, e.g. Zn and Cd, during pellets production and combustion were studied. A significant enrichment in the pellet fuel during the drying process was determined. The magnitude and importance of the enrichment was, however, relative small and some alternative measures for prevention were also suggested.

Wood combustion is mainly used in cold regions as a primary or supplemental space heating source in residential areas. In several industrialized countries, there is a renewed interest in residential wood combustion (RWC) as an alternative to fossil fuel and nuclear power consumption. The main objective of this thesis was to investigate the impact of RWC on the air quality in urban areas. To this end, a field campaign was conducted in Northern Sweden during wintertime to characterize atmospheric aerosol particles and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and to determine their source apportionment. A large day-to-day and hour-to-hour variability in aerosol concentrations was observed during the intensive field campaign. On average, total carbon contributed a substantial fraction of PM10 mass concentrations (46%) and aerosol particles were mostly in the fine fraction (PM1 accounted for 76% of PM10). Evening aerosol concentrations were significantly higher on weekends than on weekdays which could be associated to the use of wood burning for recreational purposes or higher space heat demand when inhabitants spend longer time at home. It has been shown that continuous aerosol particle number size distribution measurements successfully provided source apportionment of atmospheric aerosol with high temporal resolution. The first compound-specific radiocarbon analysis (CSRA) of atmospheric PAH demonstrated its potential to provide quantitative information on the RWC contribution to individual PAH. RWC accounted for a large fraction of particle number concentrations in the size range 25-606 nm (44-57%), PM10 (36-82%), PM1 (31-83%), light-absorbing carbon (40-76%) and individual PAH (71-87%) mass concentrations. These studies have demonstrated that the impact of RWC on air quality in an urban location can be very important and largely exceed the contribution of vehicle emissions during winter, particularly under very stable atmospheric conditions.

Urban wet weather discharge impairs the receiving water and sediment quality. Among other factors, particulate matter plays a role. It increases the suspended sediment load of the receiving water and may thus enhance the clogging of the bed sediment which serves as an important river habitat. This thesis investigates how much urban areas may contribute to the fine sediment and associated element load which is retarded by the bed sediment. It is based on an extensive field study. The study area was the Bode River, a mid-sized stream in Central Germany. About 10 km upstream of the river mouth, the sampling campaign took place close to Staßfurt, a town of 20’000. During the sampling campaign, the intrusion of fine sediment into the bed sediment was captured by sediment traps. Furthermore three possible sources of this fine sediment were sampled. Within the Town of Staßfurt, we sampled urban wet weather discharge at three sites to capture urban areas. As second source naturally occurring fine sediment was considered. Therefore we took sediment cores upstream of the Town of Staßfurt. As third source, the impact of the upstream catchment was captured by taking suspended sediment samples. For all sample types, particle-bound element contents were determined to establish element patterns of the receptor and the source sites. The rationale thereby is that the element pattern at the receptor sites results from the element patterns of the sources. Consequently the contribution of the sources can be calculated by mixing models. In the study area, particulate matter from urban areas is distinct from river borne fine sediment due to elevated copper, zinc, nitrogen and phosphorus contents. We conducted an in-depth analysis of this element pattern by a cluster analysis. It revealed that the particle-bound element pattern is source specific whereby nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon are related to sewage and behave differently than most metals such as copper which mainly originate from surface runoff. The degree to which element patterns agree from site to site is limited by the variability encountered within sample sets from individual sites. Thereby the variability of the element pattern depends on the complexity of the catchment. The contribution of urban areas to fine sediment and associated elements which were captured by sediment traps was calculated by a mixing model. Based on this mixing model, about 10% of the fine sediment originate from urban areas. Thereby the impact of the Town of Staßfurt could not be detected leading to the conclusion that upstream urban areas contribute most. Because of the elevated content of e.g. copper and zinc, urban areas contribute up to 40% and thus disproportionally high to particle-associated copper and zinc load. The source apportionment of the fine sediment is little influenced by the elements considered in the mixing model. Different element patterns showed that the median contribution of urban areas ranges from 0 – 20%. This lies within the interquartile range of the initial mixing model. Another result of the measurement campaign ist that sediment traps over-estimated the anthropogenic impact because they did not resemble the surrounding bed sediment. When they were exposed, they were completely free from fine sediment and hence served as sink of suspended sediment. During the sampling campaign, one source was not directly taken into account. It was possible, though, to delineate this source by nonnegative matrix factorization. Within the Town of Staßfurt, a soda ash production site discharges into the Bode River. The nonnegative matrix factorization uncovered that the soda ash production site is a major source of particulate matter and contributes up to 30% of the fine sediment captured by the traps downstream of the Town of Staßfurt. This source dilutes most element contents as it mainly consists of carbonates. This was revealed by studying the element binding according to the BCR extraction scheme. This thesis shows that urban areas may be a major source of particulate matter and especially associated elements retarded by the bed sediment. It shows that the element contents form a viable pattern to calculate how much urban areas contribute to fine sediment by mixing models. The thesis further shows that nonnegative matrix factorization is a viable tool to delineate such a distinct source as soda ash production site. / Misch- und Regenwasserentlastungen beeinträchtigen die Qualität von Vorflutgewässern. Unter anderem gelangt Feinsediment während Entlastungsereignissen in Vorflutgewässer. Dieses erhöht die Fracht an suspendiertem Sediment und verstärkt die Kolmatierung der Gewässersohle. Damit ist das hyporheische Interstitial, das ein wichtiges Fließgewässerhabitat ist, vom Eintrag von Feinsediment betroffen. Diese Arbeit untersucht, wie sehr urbane Flächen zur Feinsedimentfracht und zur Fracht von partikulär gebundenen Elementen beitragen können, die im Bettsediment zurückgehalten werden. Sie beruht auf einer umfangreichen Messkampagne. Das Untersuchungsgebiet dafür war die Bode, ein mittelgroßer Fluss in Mitteldeutschland. Etwa 10 km flussaufwärts der Mündung fand die Messkampagne nahe der Kleinstadt Staßfurt statt. Im Rahmen dieser Messkampagne haben wir den Eintrag von Feinsediment in das Bettsediment durch Sedimentkörbe erfasst. Drei Quellen dieses Feinsediments haben wir berücksichtigt. In Staßfurt wurden eine Regen- und zwei Mischwassereinleitungen beprobt, um urbane Flächen zu erfassen. Als zweite Quelle wurde natürlich vorkommendes Feinsediment berücksichtigt. Dafür haben wir Sedimentkerne flussaufwärts von Staßfurt genommen. Als dritte Quelle haben wir das stromaufwärts liegende Einzugsgebiet erfasst, indem wir das suspendierte Sediment beprobt haben. Für alle Proben wurde der Elementgehalt bestimmt, um das Elementmuster des Feinsediments, das ins Bettsediment eingetragen wurde, und der Quellen zu ermitteln. Der Grund für diese Messstrategie war, dass das Elementmuster des Feinsediments in den Körben aus den Elementmustern der Quellen, Regen- bzw. Mischwassereinleitungen, natürlich vorkommendes Feinsediment und suspendiertes Sediment aus dem Einzugsgebiet, resultieren sollte. Damit ist es möglich, den Beitrag über Mischungsmodelle zu berechnen. Im Untersuchungsgebiet unterscheidet sich das Feinsediment, das von urbanen Flächen stammt, von dem flussbürtigen Feinsediment aufgrund erhöhter Kupfer-, Zink-, Stickstoff- und Phosphorgehalte. Wir haben das Elementmuster der urbanen Flächen mit einer Clusteranalyse genauer untersucht. Dies ergab, dass das partikulär gebundene Elementmuster quellenspezifisch ist, wobei sich Stickstoff, Phosphor und Kohlenstoff Abwasser zuordnen lassen, während die meisten Metalle wie Kupfer und Zink hauptsächlich aus dem Oberflächenabfluss stammen. Das Maß, zu dem die Muster von Messpunkt zu Messpunkt übereinstimmen, wird durch die Variabilität beschränkt, die die Proben eines Messpunktes aufweisen. Diese Variabilität hängt dabei von der Komplexität des Einzugsgebiets ab. Über eine Mischungsrechnung konnten wir berechnen, wie viel urbane Flächen zur Fracht von Feinsediment und daran gebundenen Elementen in den Sedimentkörben beitrugen. Im Untersuchungsgebiet stammen etwa 10 % des Feinsediments, das durch die Sedimentkörbe aufgefangen wurde, von urbanen Flächen. Der Beitrag der Stadt Staßfurt konnte dabei aber nicht von dem Beitrag weiter flussaufwärts gelegener urbaner Gebiete getrennt werden. Daraus folgt, dass weiter stromaufwärts liegende Gebiete mehr beitragen als Staßfurt. Wegen des erhöhten Gehalts an z.B. Kupfer und Zink tragen urbane Flächen ca. 40 % und damit überproportional hoch zur partikulär gebundenen Kupfer- und Zinkfracht bei. Für die Berechung des Quellenbeitrags zum Feinsediment spielt es keine große Rolle, welche Elemente in der Mischungsrechnung berücksichtigt werden. Verschiedene Elementmuster ergeben, dass der Medianbeitrag urbaner Flächen zwischen 0 und 20 % liegt. Dies entspricht dem Interquartilsabstand der ursprünglichen Mischungsrechnung. Ein weiteres Resultat der Untersuchungen ist, dass die Sedimentkörbe den anthropogenen Einfluss überschätzten, weil sie das umgebende Bettsediment nicht exakt abbildeten und als Falle funktionierten. Innerhalb Staßfurts gibt es ein Sodawerk, das seine Produktionsabwässer in die Bode einleitet. Während der Messkampagne wurde diese Quelle nicht direkt erfasst. Es war trotzdem möglich, diese Quelle durch nicht-negative Matrix-Faktorisierung zu identifizieren. Die nicht-negative Matrix-Faktorisierung ergab, dass das Abwasser des Sodawerks eine Hauptquelle des Feinsediments der Bode ist. Bis zu 30 % des Feinsediments in den Sedimentkörben flussabwärts von Staßfurt lassen sich dem Sodawerk zuordnen. Dieses Feinsediment besteht hauptsächlich aus Karbonaten und verdünnt die meisten Elementgehalte. Dies wurde deutlich, indem die Elementbindungen nach dem BCR Extraktionsschema untersucht wurden. Diese Arbeit zeigt die Relevanz, die urbane Flächen als Quelle von Feinsediment und daran gebundener Elementfracht haben, die ins Interstitial eingetragen werden. Sie zeigt, dass die Elementgehalte ein Muster bilden, mit dem es möglich ist, über eine Mischungsrechnung zu klären, wie viel urbane Flächen zum Feinsediment beitragen. Die Arbeit zeigt ferner, dass nicht-negative Matrix-Faktorisierung ermöglicht, eine so charakteristische Quelle wie ein Sodawerk zu identifizieren.

An Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ATOFMS) was used to obtain mass spectra of individual aerosol particles in the 0.5 – 2 µm size range in downtown Toronto, Canada for one to two month periods during each season of 2007. A modified version of the Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART-2a) clustering algorithm, which clusters particles based on the similarity of their mass spectra, was shown to be more accurate than the existing algorithm and was used to cluster the ambient data. A total of 21 unique particle types were identified and were characterized based on their chemical composition, their size, and their temporal trends and seasonal variations. Potential sources are also discussed. Particles containing trimethylamine (TMA) were also observed and a more detailed investigation of ambient trends in conjunction with a laboratory experiment was performed in order to elucidate conditions for which TMA will be observed in the particle phase in Southern Ontario.

An Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ATOFMS) was used to obtain mass spectra of individual aerosol particles in the 0.5 – 2 µm size range in downtown Toronto, Canada for one to two month periods during each season of 2007. A modified version of the Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART-2a) clustering algorithm, which clusters particles based on the similarity of their mass spectra, was shown to be more accurate than the existing algorithm and was used to cluster the ambient data. A total of 21 unique particle types were identified and were characterized based on their chemical composition, their size, and their temporal trends and seasonal variations. Potential sources are also discussed. Particles containing trimethylamine (TMA) were also observed and a more detailed investigation of ambient trends in conjunction with a laboratory experiment was performed in order to elucidate conditions for which TMA will be observed in the particle phase in Southern Ontario.

Effective pollution mitigation is the key to successful air quality management. Although states invest millions of dollars to predict future air quality, the regulatory modeling and analysis process to inform pollution control strategy remains uncertain. Traditionally deterministic ‘bright-line’ tests are applied to evaluate the sufficiency of a control strategy to attain an air quality standard. A critical part of regulatory attainment demonstration is the prediction of future pollutant levels using photochemical air quality models. However, because models are uncertain, they yield a false sense of precision that pollutant response to emission controls is perfectly known and may eventually mislead the selection of control policies. These uncertainties in turn affect the health impact assessment of air pollution control strategies. This thesis explores beyond the conventional practice of deterministic attainment demonstration and presents novel approaches to yield probabilistic representations of pollutant response to emission controls by accounting for uncertainties in regional air quality planning. Computationally-efficient methods are developed and validated to characterize uncertainty in the prediction of secondary pollutant (ozone and particulate matter) sensitivities to precursor emissions in the presence of uncertainties in model assumptions and input parameters. We also introduce impact factors that enable identification of model inputs and scenarios that strongly influence pollutant concentrations and sensitivity to precursor emissions. We demonstrate how these probabilistic approaches could be applied to determine the likelihood that any control measure will yield regulatory attainment, or could be extended to evaluate probabilistic health benefits of emission controls, considering uncertainties in both air quality models and epidemiological concentration–response relationships. Finally, ground-level observations for pollutant (ozone) and precursor concentrations (oxides of nitrogen) have been used to adjust probabilistic estimates of pollutant sensitivities based on the performance of simulations in reliably reproducing ambient measurements. Various observational metrics have been explored for better scientific understanding of how sensitivity estimates vary with measurement constraints. Future work could extend these methods to incorporate additional modeling uncertainties and alternate observational metrics, and explore the responsiveness of future air quality to project trends in emissions and climate change.