Mobile laboratory measurements of air pollutants in Baltimore, MD elucidate issues of environmental justice.

ABSTRACT: The City of Baltimore, MD has a history of problems with environmental justice (EJ), air pollution, and the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Current chemical transport models lack the resolution to simulate concentrations on the scale needed, about 100 m, to identify the neighborhoods with anomalously high air pollution levels. In this paper we introduce the capabilities of a mobile laboratory and an initial survey of several pollutants in Baltimore to identify which communities are exposed to disproportionate concentrations of air pollution and to which species. High concentrations of black carbon (BC) stood out at some locations - near major highways, downtown, and in the Curtis Bay neighborhood of Baltimore. Results from the mobile lab are confirmed with longer-term, low-cost monitoring.

SUBMITTER: Dickerson RR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11697762 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature