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Simulating real-world exposures during emergency events: studying effects of indoor and outdoor releases in the Urban Dispersion Program in upper Manhattan, NY

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 24, pages 279–289 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

A prospective personal exposure study, involving indoor and outdoor releases, was conducted in upper Midtown Manhattan in New York City as part of the Urban Dispersion Program (UDP) focusing on atmospheric dispersion of chemicals in complex urban settings. The UDP experiments involved releases of very low levels of perfluorocarbon tracers (PFTs) in Midtown Manhattan at separate locations, during two seasons in 2005. The study presented here includes both outdoor and indoor releases of the tracers, and realistic scripted activities for characterizing near source and neighborhood-scale exposures using 1-min and 10-min duration samples, respectively. Results showed that distributions of individual tracers and exposures to them within the study area were significantly influenced by surface winds, urban terrain, and movements of people typical of urban centers. Although in general, PFT levels returned quickly to zero in general after cessation of the emissions, in some cases, the concentrations stayed at higher levels after the releases stopped. This is likely due to accumulation of the PFTs in some buildings, which then serve as “secondary sources” when outside levels are lower than indoor levels. Measurements of neighborhood-scale PFT concentrations (up to distances of several blocks away from the release points) provided information needed to establish a baseline for determining how different types of releases could affect exposures both to the general public and to emergency responders. These data highlight the factors impacting the toxic threat levels following releases of hazardous chemicals and provide supporting information for evaluating and refining protocols for emergency event response.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to John Heiser and his colleagues at BNL, who not only carefully analyzed the samples for PFTs, but who helped to design the quality assurance project plan and otherwise provided invaluable advice on the design and implementation of this study. We also recognize Jim Daloia and this crew of volunteers from the US EPA New York Regional Office, who collected the samples as they walked the routes in and around RC. Finally, we thank Paul Lioy of EOHSI for his leadership in this project and his reliable and sage advice before, during and after this study.

Disclaimer

The United States Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development (ORD) partially funded and collaborated in the research described here under assistance agreement CR 83162501 to the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, and funded the PFT analyses under contract EPD 04068 with Battelle Memorial Institute and its subcontractor, BNL. The research and the manuscript have been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USEPA National Exposure Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

    Daniel Vallero

  2. EOHSI, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, UMDNJ, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Sastry Isukapalli

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  1. Daniel Vallero
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  2. Sastry Isukapalli
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Correspondence to Daniel Vallero.

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Vallero, D., Isukapalli, S. Simulating real-world exposures during emergency events: studying effects of indoor and outdoor releases in the Urban Dispersion Program in upper Manhattan, NY. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 24, 279–289 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2013.38

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