Using data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chemical Speciation Network, we have characterized trends in PM2.5transition metals in urban areas across the United States for the period 2001–2016. The metals included in this analysis—Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, V, and Zn—were selected based upon their abundance in PM2.5, known sources, and links to toxicity. Ten cities were included to provide broad geographic coverage, diverse source influences, and climatology: Atlanta (ATL), Baltimore (BAL), Chicago (CHI), Dallas (DAL), Denver (DEN), Los Angeles (LA), New York City (NYC), Phoenix (PHX), Seattle (SEA), and St. Louis (STL). The concentrations of V and Zn decreased in all ten cities, though the V decreases were more substantial. Cr concentrations increased in cities in the East and Midwest, with a pronounced spike in concentrations in 2013. The National Emissions Inventory was used to link sources with the observed trends; however, the causes of the broad Cr concentration increases and 2013 spike are not clear. Analysis of PM2.5metal concentrations in port versus non-port cities showed different trends for Ni, suggesting an important but decreasing influence of marine emissions. The concentrations of most PM2.5metals decreased in LA, STL, BAL, and SEA while concentrations of four of the seven metals (Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni) increased in DAL over the same time. Comparisons of the individual metals to overall trends in PM2.5suggest decoupled sources and processes affecting each. These metals may have an enhanced toxicity compared to other chemical species present in PM, so the results have implications for strategies to measure exposures to PM and the resulting human health effects.
This content will become publicly available on June 19, 2025
Most fine ambient particulate matter (PM2.5)-based epidemiological models use globalized concentration-response (CR) functions assuming that the toxicity of PM2.5is solely mass-dependent without considering its chemical composition. Although oxidative potential (OP) has emerged as an alternate metric of PM2.5toxicity, the association between PM2.5mass and OP on a large spatial extent has not been investigated. In this study, we evaluate this relationship using 385 PM2.5samples collected from 14 different sites across 4 different continents and using 5 different OP (and cytotoxicity) endpoints. Our results show that the relationship between PM2.5mass vs. OP (and cytotoxicity) is largely non-linear due to significant differences in the intrinsic toxicity, resulting from a spatially heterogeneous chemical composition of PM2.5. These results emphasize the need to develop localized CR functions incorporating other measures of PM2.5properties (e.g., OP) to better predict the PM2.5-attributed health burdens.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 2012149
- PAR ID:
- 10552362
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Volume:
- 15
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2041-1723
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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