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Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

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Particulate Matter a Community Concern

• Other sources include: road dust, construction sites, and the train

• Potential health and environmental impacts stemming from PM

• Coal development is thought to contribute to particulate matter pollution

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Community Background

• Seward is situated on Resurrection Bay

• 125 highway miles south of Anchorage

• Qutekcak Native Tribe• Alaska Natives living in

these areas are Aleut or Alutiiq people

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What is Particulate Matter? • Particle Matter:

mixture of solid and liquid particles

• Particles include: dust, dirt, soot or smoke

• Some are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eye

• Others can only be detected using an electron microscope

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Particulate Matter Sources

• Industrial sources include: • Mining • Transportation of mined

material • Abrasive blasting • Construction sites • Storage of bulk materials

(sand/dirt/gravel/coal)

Gray filter after sample collection

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Particulate Matter Sources

• Non-industrial source include:• Driving automobiles• Unpaved roads

• Burning wood• Fugitive dust

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Particulate Matter Health Effects

• Particle pollution can get deep into the lungs• It can cause serious health problems including:

– Increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing, or difficulty breathing

– Decreased lung function – Aggravated asthma – Development of chronic bronchitis – Irregular heartbeat – Nonfatal heart attacks– Premature death in people with heart or lung disease

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Seward PM10 Study

• The monitoring for concentrations of larger inhalable coarse particles (PM10)

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Collaborative Effort

• Participants Roles: • QNT operates the site• Alaska DEC provides

technical support (calibrations, lab analysis, training, etc.)

• City of Seward provides logistical support (locations for monitors)

• ANTHC provides technical support and financial assistance

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PM10 Monitoring Network• Four PM10 high volume

samplers• Three sampling locations• One co-located site used

to collect precision data• Follow EPA’s 1 in 6 PM10

sampling schedule• 24 hr sample run time• Proposed as a one year

study• Filters analyzed by state

laboratory in Juneau, AK

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Where do we go from here…?

Future data analysis may look at:• Concentrations (High or Low)• Pollution trends • Weather patterns• Sources/speciation

Resurrection Bay Fishing

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Where do we go from here…? (cont.)

• Results of the study will indicate the next steps • If the concentration are high future mitigations

may address:• Industrial sources• Unpaved roads • Bulk material piles • Construction sites• Wood burning advisories• Car emissions testing

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Outreach Education

• Community forums• Public presentations• School outreach• Newspaper/newsletter

articles• Tribal elder

presentations

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Questions?

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Division of Environmental Health and EngineeringEnvironmental Health Support 1901Bragaw Street, Suite 200, Anchorage, AK 99508 1.907.729.3600 or 1.800.560.8637