[Sehefac] Meeting w Stanford Air Quality researcher (Scott Fendorf)

[samantha.ying at ucr.edu]

Dear SEHE colleagues,

We're hosting Scott Fendorf from Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability,
who will give a talk about creating a new air quality index based on toxins
and health outcomes (rather than just particle size). Please feel free to
sign up to meet with him if you'd like. His talk title and abstract are
provided below:

<http://goog_1222482133/>
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gznlFdv0cFCCvkeIEcv5b3PQ3HdN_6OgqbPQ3ZHNxfg/edit?usp=sharing

Moving Beyond PM2.5 and AQI: Wildfire Metal Toxins We Breathe

Abstract: Wildfires are increasing in severity, frequency, and distribution
globally. While essential for ecosystem function, increasing fire severity
is leading to devastating impacts on ecosystem processes. Although
appreciable attention has been devoted to fine

particulate matter derived from wildfires, the production of toxic metals
within fine

particulate matter has largely gone unrecognized. We use a combination of
laboratory

experiments, field measurements, and data science approaches to evaluate
metal

particulate chemistry and transport from wildfires. Further, we examine the
particle size

distribution and chemistry. Using a unique natural (field) matrix, we show
that fire

severity, geologic substrate, and ecosystem type control metal
concentration and

chemistry. Chromium is the largest risk driver in wildland fires, with lead
being the

largest risk from fires at wildland-urban interface. Importantly, metal
concentrations are

highest from fires burning on metal-rich geologies, and metals are enriches
in ultrafine

particles that are less than 0.250 microns in diameter. Critically, the
fine particulate

matter can transport many hundreds of kilometers, with metals often being
most

concentrated on moderate air quality days. Our results illustrate a need to
move from

PM2.5 and the Air Quality Index that are blind to particle chemistry to a
metric that

captures the chemistry and fine-particle distribution of toxins.



Best wishes,

sam


---

Sam Ying

Associate Professor of Biogeochemistry

The Dirty Lab - Environmental Sciences Department
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