Work

Long-term contributions of VOC sources and their link to ozone pollution in Bronx, New York City

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Recent changes in energy and environmental policies along with changes in the energy markets of New York State over the past two decades, have spurred interest in evaluating their impacts on emissions from various energy sectors such as power, transportation, and residential. This study focused on quantifying these effects and their subsequent impacts on air quality within the New York City (NYC) metropolitan area. The NYC metropolitan area, with its more than 23 million residents, is an EPA nonattainment region for ozone (O3) and likely is a VOC (volatile organic compounds) limited region. NYC has a complex coastal topography and meteorology with low-level jets and sea/bay/land breeze circulation associated with heat waves, leading to summertime O3 exceedances and formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). To date, no comprehensive source apportionment studies have been done to understand the contributions of local and long-range sources of VOCs in this area. This study applied an improved Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) methodology designed to incorporate atmospheric dispersion and photochemical reaction losses of VOCs to provide improved apportionment results. Hourly measurements of VOCs were obtained from a Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Station located at an urban site in the Bronx, NYC from 2000 to 2021. The study further explores the role of VOC sources in O3 and SOA formation and leverages advanced machine learning tools, XGBoost and SHAP algorithms, to identify synergistic interactions between sources and provided VOC source impacts on the ambient O3 concentrations. Findings of this study could assist the regulatory agencies in developing appropriate policy and management initiatives to control O3 pollution in NYC metro area.

Source: Environment International

DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108993

Authors: Lucille Borlaza-Lacoste, Md. Aynul Bari, Cheng-Hsuan Lu, Philip K. Hopke

Institutions: State University of New York, University at Albany, State University of New York, Clarkson University, University of Rochester Medicine, University of Rochester

Language: English

Topic: Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols

Subfield: Atmospheric Science

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Climate action

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,980