1 research outputs found
Differences Between Magnitudes and Health Impacts of BC Emissions Across the United States Using 12 km Scale Seasonal Source Apportionment
Recent
assessments have analyzed the health impacts of PM<sub>2.5</sub> from
emissions from different locations and sectors using simplified
or reduced-form air quality models. Here we present an alternative
approach using the adjoint of the Community Multiscale Air Quality
(CMAQ) model, which provides source–receptor relationships
at highly resolved sectoral, spatial, and temporal scales. While damage
resulting from anthropogenic emissions of BC is strongly correlated
with population and premature death, we found little correlation between
damage and emission magnitude, suggesting that controls on the largest
emissions may not be the most efficient means of reducing damage resulting
from anthropogenic BC emissions. Rather, the best proxy for locations
with damaging BC emissions is locations where premature deaths occur.
Onroad diesel and nonroad vehicle emissions are the largest contributors
to premature deaths attributed to exposure to BC, while onroad gasoline
emissions cause the highest deaths per amount emitted. Emissions in
fall and winter contribute to more premature deaths (and more per
amount emitted) than emissions in spring and summer. Overall, these
results show the value of the high-resolution source attribution for
determining the locations, seasons, and sectors for which BC emission
controls have the most effective health benefits