California Air Resources Board

Principal Investigator/Author: Katherine Hammond

Contractor: University of California, Berkeley

Contract Number: 19RD003

Project Status: Completed

Relevant CARB Programs: Research Planning, Health & Exposure

Topic Areas: State Implementation Plans (SIPs), Health Effects of Air Pollution

Research Summary:

This research proposal supports an exposure assessment that will be used in an ongoing study of the health impacts of air pollution in Fresno.  The health data collection will be funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to maintain a cohort of 523 children. To understand the sources of air pollution that Fresno residents experience, the researchers will study different markers of air pollution and combustion, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds and combustion products, including PAH, black carbon, and brown carbon. The investigators will supplement the California Air Resources Board air monitoring network in Fresno to measure these pollutants. The researchers will use these data to determine the sources of particulate matter (PM) exposures, including PM originating from traffic-related sources from other combustion sources, such as residential wood burning, agricultural burning, prescribed burns, and wildfires, and to assign concentrations of these pollutants to distinct neighborhoods in Fresno and Clovis. These exposure assessments will be used to evaluate the seasonal and annual impact of these pollutant sources on community air pollution. The information that will be gained through this contract will support the Board’s decision-making and effective program implementation.

The objectives of the CARB-funded study are to:

• Understand the sources of PM exposure for residents of Fresno and Clovis;
• Estimate concentrations of PAH, BC, BrC, and PM from each of these sources at the neighborhood level. 

Keywords: emission sources, state implementation plans (SIP), air quality