1 / 14

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Particulate Matter a Community Concern. Coal development is thought to contribute to particulate matter pollution. Other sources include: road dust, construction sites, and the train Potential health and environmental impacts stemming from PM.

isra
Download Presentation

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

  2. Particulate Matter a Community Concern • Coal development is thought to contribute to particulate matter pollution Other sources include: road dust, construction sites, and the train Potential health and environmental impacts stemming from PM

  3. Community Background • Seward is situated on Resurrection Bay • 125 highway miles south of Anchorage • Qutekcak Native Tribe • Alaska Natives living in these areas are Aleut or Alutiiq people

  4. What is Particulate Matter? • Particle Matter: mixture of solid and liquid particles • Particles include: dust, dirt, soot or smoke • Some are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eye • Others can only be detected using an electron microscope

  5. Particulate Matter Sources Gray filter after sample collection • Industrial sources include: • Mining • Transportation of mined material • Abrasive blasting • Construction sites • Storage of bulk materials (sand/dirt/gravel/coal)

  6. Particulate Matter Sources • Burning wood • Fugitive dust • Non-industrial source include: • Driving automobiles • Unpaved roads

  7. Particulate Matter Health Effects • Particle pollution can get deep into the lungs • It can cause serious health problems including: • Increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing, or difficulty breathing • Decreased lung function • Aggravated asthma • Development of chronic bronchitis • Irregular heartbeat • Nonfatal heart attacks • Premature death in people with heart or lung disease

  8. Seward PM10 Study The monitoring for concentrations of larger inhalable coarse particles (PM10)

  9. Collaborative Effort • Participants Roles: • QNT operates the site • Alaska DEC provides technical support (calibrations, lab analysis, training, etc.) • City of Seward provides logistical support (locations for monitors) • ANTHC provides technical support and financial assistance

  10. PM10 Monitoring Network • Four PM10 high volume samplers • Three sampling locations • One co-located site used to collect precision data • Follow EPA’s 1 in 6 PM10 sampling schedule • 24 hr sample run time • Proposed as a one year study • Filters analyzed by state laboratory in Juneau, AK

  11. Where do we go from here…? Resurrection Bay Fishing Future data analysis may look at: • Concentrations (High or Low) • Pollution trends • Weather patterns • Sources/speciation

  12. Where do we go from here…? (cont.) • Results of the study will indicate the next steps • If the concentration are high future mitigations may address: • Industrial sources • Unpaved roads • Bulk material piles • Construction sites • Wood burning advisories • Car emissions testing

  13. Outreach Education Community forums Public presentations School outreach Newspaper/newsletter articles Tribal elder presentations

  14. Questions? Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Division of Environmental Health and Engineering Environmental Health Support 1901Bragaw Street, Suite 200, Anchorage, AK 99508 1.907.729.3600 or 1.800.560.8637

More Related