If you live near an interstate or busy roadway in Tampa, you can literally wipe the grime from auto exhaust off your windows. Imagine breathing all that stuff into your lungs.
Such pollution is a serious issue as traffic continues to grow and researchers at (COPH) want to improve ways to monitor airborne contaminants and build more robust data on their levels and impact. The information on traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) also may pave the way in planning for cleaner air in Tampa鈥檚 expanding neighborhoods.
Amy Stuart, PhD, MS (Photo by Caitlin Keough)
鈥淚鈥檝e been studying air quality for my entire career and I鈥檝e been interested in how urban design impacts our air,鈥欌 said , professor and interim chair, . 鈥淎 big source in the Tampa area is vehicles, so I began focusing on the transportation infrastructure and its impact on air quality.鈥欌
Classification system
The USF team developed a classification system to simplify complex technical information and to provide guidance for community members and policy makers on using the data. In order for people to trust the data, the researchers say, they need to understand its quality.
Stuart and recent COPH graduate Yonghong Luo recently published a scholarly paper 鈥,鈥 published in the journal Atmospheric Environment.
鈥淭his research is important because it helps address a real-world problem: how communities can understand and trust air quality data,鈥欌 said Luo, first author of the study. 鈥淭raditional air monitoring systems are accurate but limited in coverage, so they often can鈥檛 capture what people are actually experiencing in their neighborhoods.鈥欌
Yonghong Luo, PhD (Photo courtesy of Luo)
Most government monitors are cumbersome, costly, can鈥檛 be moved and require highly trained technicians to operate and interpret data. These limitations can lead to gaps at the neighborhood level.
The new study focuses on sensor-based air quality monitoring systems: small, low-cost devices that measure pollutants in real-time. These promising tools are accessible to anyone and include high-resolution, user-friendly platforms such as mobile apps and interactive online maps. With a tap of a finger, a person can access air quality information.
The team used two sensor-based monitors 鈭 called PurpleAir II and Clarity Node-S 鈥 to track a few traffic-related air pollutants over a period of two years. They evaluated the performance of these sensors for measurement of fine particles and nitrogen dioxide in Tampa鈥檚 high-humidity conditions.
An installed PurpleAir-PA-II monitor. (Photo courtesy of Plan Hillsborough)
Luo and Stuart then developed a classification system to simplify complex technical information and to provide guidance for both community members and policy makers on appropriate use of the data. Key to their study was providing data about pollutants at a grass-roots level.
The idea of having low-cost sensors at the neighborhood level was intriguing, Stuart added: 鈥淭he people in these neighborhoods were not very trusting that the (government) data was protecting their health. So, having low-cost monitors locally had potential 鈭 it got the communities involved.鈥欌
The social impact of traffic pollution also guided the study. Urban planners often decide where major roadways are built and their long-range effect on people living nearby. Residents of these communities 鈥 often poor minorities鈭 can be disproportionately exposed to elevated levels of TRAP.
The USF team worked as part of a collaborative project including the Hillsborough County Transportation Planning Organization (TPO), Environmental Protection Commission, Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association and several other local partners and site hosts. They set up monitoring devices at community sites near the Interstate 275 and Interstate 4 interchange that runs through Tampa. More than 200,000 vehicles travel this highly congested stretch each day, exposing neighborhoods to many types of TRAP.
The TPO noted that more than one-quarter of the county鈥檚 total population lives within 1,000 feet of a high-volume road and a relatively high concentration of auto exhaust. For this reason, officials cite the need to characterize air quality in neighborhoods near these roadways and to encourage people to become more vocal about urban planning.
鈥淚n the future, this work can support better public health protection by improving how air quality data is communicated,鈥欌 Luo said. 鈥淚t will empower communities to make informed decisions and help policymakers use local data to address pollution more effectively.鈥欌