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Spatial and temporal distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and elemental carbon in Bakersfield, California

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Abstract

Despite increasing evidence that airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposures contribute to adverse health outcomes for sensitive populations, limited data are available on short-term intraurban spatial distributions for use in epidemiologic research. Exposure assessments for airborne PAHs are uncommon because air sampling for PAHs is a labor-, equipment-, and time-intensive task. To address this gap, we measured wintertime PAH concentrations during 2010–2011 in Bakersfield, California, USA, a major city in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. Specifically, 58 96-hour integrated PAH samples were collected during four time periods at 14 locations from November 2010 to January 2011; duplicates were collected at two sites. We also collected elemental carbon (EC) at the same 14 sites and analyzed the two time periods with the highest ambient PAH pollution. We used linear regression models to quantify the relationship between potential spatial and temporal predictors of PAH concentrations. We found that wintertime PAH concentrations in Bakersfield, CA, are best predicted by meteorological variables and traffic proximity. Our model explains a moderate amount of the variability in the data (R 2 = 0.58), likely reflecting the major sources of PAHs in Bakersfield. We also observed that PAH concentrations were more spatially variable than EC concentrations. Comparing our data to historical monitoring data at one location in Bakersfield showed that the relatively low PAH concentrations during the 2010–2011 winter in Bakersfield is part of a long-term trend in decreasing PAH concentrations.

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Abbreviations

EPA:

US Environmental Protection Agency

IARC:

International Agency for Research on Cancer

PAH:

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

EC:

Elemental carbon

CV:

Coefficient of variation

FLU:

Fluoranthene

PYR:

Pyrene

BAA:

Benz[a]anthracene

CHR:

Chrysene

BBF:

Benzo[b]fluoranthene

BKF:

Benzo[k]fluoranthene

BAP:

Benzo[a]pyrene

ICP:

Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene

DBA:

Dibenz[a,h]anthracene

BGP:

Benzo[ghi]perylene

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Acknowledgments

We thank the California Air Resources Board, the Kern High School District, and the principals of Freedom Middle School, Rosedale Middle School, and Virginia Avenue Elementary School in Bakersfield, CA for allowing us to conduct air sampling on their properties. We thank the Ed Avol and Scott Fruin of the University of Southern California, Department of Preventive Medicine, for loaning equipment essential for the study. We thank Biruk Tammru and Jay Hyun Kim for their assistance in the laboratory. The research described in this article was supported by the University of California, Berkeley/Stanford Children’s Environmental Health Center, sponsored by the National Institute for Environmental Health Science (1P20ES018173, P01ES022849) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (RD-83459601-0, R834596).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 50 University Hall #7360, Berkeley, CA, 94720-7360, USA

    Elizabeth M. Noth, Charles Perrino & S. Katharine Hammond

  2. Sonoma Technology, Inc., 1455 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma, CA, 94954-6503, USA

    Fred Lurmann & David Vaughn

  3. Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave, NW 7th Floor, Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Amanda Northcross

Authors
  1. Elizabeth M. Noth
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  2. Fred Lurmann
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  3. Amanda Northcross
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  4. Charles Perrino
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  5. David Vaughn
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  6. S. Katharine Hammond
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Correspondence to Elizabeth M. Noth.

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Noth, E.M., Lurmann, F., Northcross, A. et al. Spatial and temporal distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and elemental carbon in Bakersfield, California. Air Qual Atmos Health 9, 899–908 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-016-0399-y

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