Using Spiderwebs to Detect Spatial Differences in Metal Air Pollution
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Date
2021-01-01
Type of Work
Department
Geography and Environmental Systems
Program
Geography and Environmental Systems
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Distribution Rights granted to UMBC by the author.
Access limited to the UMBC community. Item may possibly be obtained via Interlibrary Loan thorugh a local library, pending author/copyright holder's permission.
Abstract
Long term studies of air pollution have been limited to stationary monitoring conducted by government bodies or large research institutions. These official monitoring
sites can only measure a limited area, and the data they collect is then spatially
generalized. This leads to large gaps in knowledge, as air pollution can vary significantly
over small areas. This spatial gap has led to air pollution becoming a major area of
study for public science efforts. The development of small, low-cost air monitors has
enabled individuals and communities to examine their own exposure at a fine scale and
become better informed on their own health risks. However, no low-cost sensors yet
exist for the measurement o heavy metals, so despite their known negative impact on
health, heavy metals have rarely been a focus of study for informal monitoring. There is
a need for low-cost air quality monitoring that can detect differences at fine-scale and
over long periods of time. Spiderwebs have been used in several studies to test air
quality, but never in a public science setting and not yet at the fine spatial scale this
study proposes. Furthermore, their results have only been verified by brief comonitoring, rather than long-term air pollution monitoring and modeling. This study
collected spiderwebs to detect heavy metal air pollution in two neighborhoods of
Southwest Baltimore, an area with a history of air pollution and known heavy metal
releasing facilities, along with one of the highest levels of respiratory illnesses in the city
and state. Webs were also collected near the two chemical speciation monitors
operated by Maryland Department of the Environment. These webs were then analyzed
for metal concentration using an ICP-MS. Spiderwebs collected in Southwest Baltimore
were able to detect fine scale spatial differences in metal pollution, but the relationship
between these values and known sources of air pollution are still unclear.