Statewide Research Uses Advanced Instruments to Analyze Hazardous Air Pollutants

In communities across California, residents are grappling with poor air quality, often without a clear understanding of the pollutants in their environment. In Vallejo, a neighborhood near a cement mixing plant struggles with constant dust on the inside of homes, including kitchen cabinets, counters and tables. Other communities contend with traffic and aircraft emissions, industrial pollution and seasonal wildfire smoke.

A new research project led by Clare Cannon, associate professor with the Department of Human Ecology, is trying to help these communities take action by bringing advanced air monitoring tools directly into their backyards. The Community Air Project is a collaborative effort with researchers from UC Davis, Irvine and San Diego, along with several community-based organizations in northern and southern California.

“The reality is that people have been living with the consequences and impacts of poor air quality for a long time,” Cannon said. “Relief in a lot of these communities is overdue, so getting them the technology to identify, understand and try to ameliorate those impacts, is critical.”

The project aligns with California’s AB 617, a 2017 law aimed at identifying and reducing air pollution hotspots in disadvantaged communities. The team is focusing on five regions – San Bruno, Vallejo, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego – which face high levels of hazardous air pollutants, including toxic metal compounds that have been linked to serious health effects.

Advancing technology for accessible air quality data

To detect and measure toxic metals in the air, the team has deployed novel, low-cost air monitoring instruments developed at UC Davis in the lab of Anthony Wexler, director of the UC Davis Air Quality Research Center. Wexler said the traditional, commercially available instruments used to measure hazardous air pollutants such as toxic metals can cost upwards of $200,000. In an effort to make air quality measuring more affordable, the California Air Resources Board commissioned Wexler to develop a more cost-effective device.

Wexler and his team of post-doctoral fellows, students and researchers created the Toxic-metal Aerosol Real Time Analysis, or TARTA. Wexler said the parts to build the TARTA instrument costs only about $3,000, so not only is it more affordable, but it’s also portable and about the size of a small briefcase.

“It’s light and it’s small, you can just stick it in a car or carry in a backpack, which we’ve done, and it only requires a small amount of power, so you can run it on a battery,” said Wexler, who is also a distinguished professor in the Departments of Land, Air and Water Resources, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

The TARTA device works by pulling outside air through a nozzle, where airborne particles accumulate on a surface over time. A high-voltage spark then heats the collected particles, causing them to emit light at specific wavelengths.

“That energy basically makes a big spark that rapidly blasts and heats the deposited particles,” Wexler explained. “When they cool, they emit light of a certain wavelength that says we’ve got lead, or arsenic, or chromium or something else.”

Brenda Lopez Reyna, a postdoctoral researcher in Wexler’s lab, said the TARTA has undergone several improvements to make it more efficient. One key upgrade is a 3D-printed part that stabilizes the electrodes and improves detection, allowing the device to measure lower concentrations more accurately.

Community collaboration

So far, there are seven TARTA devices being used across the state. Alejandro “Alex” Sanchez, a graduate student working on his master’s degree in environmental policy and management, has been coordinating a lot of the field work in Northern California. He’s set up the device in several spots in San Bruno and Vallejo over the past year and he’s keeping track of the data collected from a TARTA that is currently placed in a Vallejo resident’s backyard.

“I'm really excited about this project because I know that one day, all these TARTAs are going to be all over the state and cheap enough so that communities can use them and see what's in their air and their communities,” said Sanchez.

The TARTA can be used in real-time to potentially track the sources of polluted air, based on wind direction and other factors. This allows community groups to target pollution hotspots and gather data at times when certain pollutants, like those from manufacturing plants, are emitted at higher levels. Michaela Anang, a graduate student in law and geography, said having the ability to pinpoint pollution sources gives residents new leverage in pushing for cleaner air.

“Communities living with these anxieties about what is in their air can have a bit more clarity,” Anang said. “It feels really impactful to be able to hopefully bring one more tool to their tool belt for how they're fighting for their health.”

Driving change

Cannon said the project also includes educational outreach efforts. She’s teaching a seminar this winter on community-engaged environmental justice research, and the team is working with the Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy, which has developed a new air quality curriculum for their high school students.

Fieldwork, data collection and analysis will continue throughout the year. Cannon said that once they have conclusive results, they plan to share their findings with regulators to help identify pollution sources and drive remediation efforts. By bringing together social scientists, engineers and community members, the project is giving communities the information and tools they need to take control of their air quality.

“Our effort is one slice of a much larger pie,” Cannon said. “My hope and our intention with doing this work, is that people are not only armed with the information of what’s polluting their environment and air, how it can affect them, actions they can take to try to protect themselves, but also increasing education and awareness about these issues and connecting people to the robust infrastructure in California to help address these issues and problems.”

This project is funded in part by a Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives grant from the UC Office of the President. Along with Cannon and Wexler, Michael Mendez from UC Irvine and Camila Alvarez from UC San Diego are serving as co-PIs.