Research Project 4

Atmospheric Sources of PCB Congeners

While PCBs are semi-volatile and commonly measured in air throughout the globe, atmospheric sources of PCBs are almost completely undefined. This project will expand the knowledge of the sources and distribution of PCBs in air through a major field study coupled with atmospheric modeling.

The study is structured as four aims:

Under Aim 1 we will determine the prevalence and distribution of atmospheric PCBs in an urban area. We will monitor PCBs in air at select residential areas of Chicago, Illinois and East Chicago, Indiana and compare results to Columbus Junction, Iowa. Aim 1 will involve innovative methods in sampling design, including high volume sampling from parked health clinic vans and passive sampling at homes and schools. Over 1,000 air samples will be collected and analyzed for the full suite of PCB congeners each year. The logistics of air sampling will be accomplished by cooperating with local health agencies, schools, and governments. PCB congener analysis will be supported by a fully automated analytical method for atmospheric PCB extraction, concentration, cleanup, analysis, and quality assurance.

Project Aims 2-4 focus on characterizing the sources using additional field measurements coupled with mathematical modeling. Aim 2 involves characterization of PCBs released from contaminated water. A field and modeling study will examine the water of Indiana Harbor / Shipping Canal in East Chicago as an emission source of PCBs.

Aim 3 concerns characterization of PCBs released from the soils of a former refinery site destined to store PCB contaminated sediments. Under Aim 4 we will evaluate mechanistic models, dispersion models, and other computational models for estimating PCB emissions from other (unknown) sources in the Chicago / East Chicago urban industrial region. Aims 2-4 include considerations of the effects of season, local meteorology, topography, re-suspension of contaminated sediment, construction activities at a contaminated site, and regional dispersion.

Project Leader: Keri C. Hornbuckle, PhD
Dr. Hornbuckle is a Professor in the University of Iowa's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She will be responsible for all aspects of the Project activities, including design and construction of mobile Hi-Vol air samplers and passive samplers, field studies, and interpretation of PCB and other environmental data. She will interact closely with the Community Outreach Core to service sampling sites and to retrieve samplers and sampling media, and will interact closely with the Analytical Core in the analysis of samples and evaluation of quality control results.

http://www.iihr.uiowa.edu/~hornbuckle/index.htm



Project Co-Leader: Victoria Persky, MD
Dr. Persky is a Professor in the Epidemiology-Biostatistics Division of the College of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago. She will be the Chicago-area liaison to schools, residents, and government agencies that are hosting the air samplers deployed for this study. Dr. Persky is a member of the Mobile C.A.R.E. Foundation Board of Directors and the Leader of this program's Community Outreach Core. Dr. Persky will work directly with schools in Chicago and East Chicago to deploy and maintain air samplers. She will directly supervise Ms. Amy Miller, Executive Director of Mobile C.A.R.E. in the deployment and operation of the mobile Hi-Vol air samplers on two clinic vans.