Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Impacts of Hurricane Florence on Criteria Air Pollutants and Air Toxics in Eastern North Carolina

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Fred A. Wright¹  Gabriela Adler²  Rui Zhu³  Galen Newman³  Noor A. Aly⁴  Sharmila Bhandari⁴  Gaston Casillas⁴  Weihsueh A. Chiu⁴  Ivan Rusyn⁴  Anthony Miller⁵ 

[1] Bioinformatics Research Center, Departments of Statistics and Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, CA 27695, USA;Breezometer, Haifa 3303124, Israel;Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77844, USA;Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA;Entanglement Technologies, San Bruno, CA 94066, USA;

关键词: air pollution;    geospatial analyses;    criteria pollutants;    volatile organic compounds;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph19031757

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Natural and anthropogenic disasters are associated with air quality concerns due to the potential redistribution of pollutants in the environment. Our objective was to conduct a spatiotemporal analysis of air concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzne, and xylene (BTEX) and criteria air pollutants in North Carolina during and after Hurricane Florence. Three sampling campaigns were carried out immediately after the storm (September 2018) and at four-month intervals. BTEX were measured along major roads. Concurrent criteria air pollutant concentrations were predicted from modeling. Correlation between air pollutants and possible point sources was conducted using spatial regression. Exceedances of ambient air criteria were observed for benzene (in all sampling periods) and PM2.5 (mostly immediately after Florence). For both, there was an association between higher concentrations and fueling stations, particularly immediately after Florence. For other pollutants, concentrations were generally below levels of regulatory concern. Through characterization of air quality under both disaster and “normal” conditions, this study demonstrates spatial and temporal variation in air pollutants. We found that only benzene and PM2.5 were present at levels of potential concern, and there were localized increases immediately after the hurricane. These substances warrant particular attention in future disaster response research (DR2) investigations.

【 授权许可】

Unknown