TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 PROTECTING THE AIR WE BREATHE 15 PROTECTING OUR WATER 19 MAKING OUR COMMUNITIES HEALTHIER 24 SAFER CHEMICALS 26 LAND MANAGEMENT 29 IMPROVING HOMELAND SECURITY 32 CROSS CUTTING RESEARCH 2 For more than 45 years, EPA has focused on its mission of protecting human health and the environment by protecting the air we breathe, the water we enjoy and drink, and the land on which we live. Every step along the way has been supported by science. Science and technology have served as the Agency’s foundation to uphold the nation’s landmark environmental statutes. Along the way, the Agency has continually honed its research to ensure that the information, innovative tools, and technical solutions EPA delivers match the real-world environmental and public health challenges faced by states, tribes, and communities. From communities struggling to rehabilitate contaminated land in ways that revitalize local economies, to small towns looking for affordable new technologies to protect their drinking water systems, EPA research is making a difference. EPA scientists are working with farmers in Oregon and Vermont seeking to reduce nutrient pollution, and with state and local governments in Utah and Michigan to reduce particle and ozone air pollution and protect public health. This report highlights these stories and more. Scientific and technical expertise are critical, but finding solutions also requires genuine cooperation. EPA scientists are working with partners across the country to deliver solutions to a wide range of environmental challenges. The impact is a noticeably cleaner and healthier environment. For more stories about EPA research go to: www.epa.gov/sciencematters 3 4 PROTECTING THE AIR WE BREATHE IMPROVING AIR QUALITY Every day, millions of Americans encounter traffic-related air pollution, which can have negative health effects. EPA is researching this type of air pollution, called near-source pollution, and developing strategies to reduce the impact of traffic emissions on public health. Kansas City Transportation and Local-Scale Air Quality Study Many residents of southeast Wyandotte County, Kansas, are interested in learning more about local air pollution emitted by multiple transportation sources. Fleets of diesel trucks, major highways, light industry, and two rail yards are all part of this region. EPA is collaborating with residents and other stakeholders to investigate how factors like weather and transportation impact air quality. In this year-long collaboration, researchers are measuring fine particle pollution known as PM2.5 and black carbon, a component of PM2.5. These pollutants can impact lung and heart health, contributing to asthma and other respiratory problems, and trigger heart attacks and strokes in people with cardiovascular disease. Results of the study will help residents understand the extent of local air pollution. 5 Recommendations for Roadside Measuring Air Quality on the Barriers to Improve Air Quality Streets of Oakland, California Roadside barriers are walls built alongside roadways or trees and bushes that are planted along the road. EPA study findings show that properly designed roadside vegetation and noise barriers can reduce downwind pollution concentrations by altering air flow and intercepting pollution. Roadside vegetation can be most effective at reducing air pollution when Air pollution in cities can change over short barriers are thick and extend or wrap around an distances, meaning that air quality and pollution area so that pollutants cannot flow around the edges. can vary within a few blocks. Air pollution EPA scientists have compiled a report with these monitors used for regulation are stationary and findings“Recommendations for Constructing Roadside therefore do not capture variations in air quality Vegetation Barriers to Improve Near-Road Air Quality.” over these small distances. EPA collaborated with Giving Citizen Scientists the Tools They Aclima, a technology company, on their year- Need to Protect Their Air long study that equipped Google Street View cars with mobile air quality technology in Oakland, One of the challenges with conducting local air California. Researchers found that the technology quality monitoring projects is knowing whether was effective in providing information on urban low-cost air sensors provide reliable data. Members air pollution patterns by block. EPA continues of two groups in North Carolina worked with EPA to work with Aclima to advance air quality researchers to evaluate a user guide and analysis tool measurement technologies. that can assess the performance of these devices. The community groups used the guide and tool to evaluate the performance of low-cost sensors and provided 6 feedback on how to improve them. For more information about EPA’s air sensor research, visit https://www.epa.gov/air-sensor-toolbox By air, land, and sea: tackling the ozone issue on Lake Michigan’s shores 8 HELPING STATES MEET AIR QUALITY STANDARDS EPA provides the science critical to developing and implementing Clean Air Act regulations that protect the quality of the air we breathe. EPA researchers are on the front lines in Utah, Michigan, and elsewhere to help states address highly complex air pollution problems that are impacting public health. Utah Winter Fine Particle Study During the winter in Utah’s northern valleys, cold air inversions trap pollution emitted from multiple sources, including vehicles, industry, and agriculture. This allows for the mixing of atmospheric chemicals that can form PM2.5, which is harmful to health at high levels. As a result, the area’s more than two million residents experience levels of PM2.5 that exceed air quality standards at times during the winter. This has contributed to an increase in emergency room visits for asthma and in the risk for coronary events like heart attacks. To assist the community, EPA scientists participated in the Utah Winter Fine Particle Study, one of the most comprehensive efforts to date to analyze the area’s pollutants and determine the chemical processes in the atmosphere. Utah will use the data to determine the most effective strategies to reduce PM2.5 levels during the winter months and improve air quality for public health. The study is also expected to help other states with similar mountain valleys make decisions about air quality to protect their residents. Lake Michigan Ozone Study To help this community and other similar areas, EPA scientists collaborated with multiple agencies for the Halfway across the country, another community Lake Michigan Ozone Study–a field study to better is having trouble keeping air pollution below set understand ozone chemistry and meteorology along standards. Despite controls implemented over the Wisconsin-Illinois Lake Michigan shoreline. the years to lower emissions of air pollutants, They took measurements over the land and the communities near the shoreline of Lake Michigan Lake to understand how lake breeze circulations still experience elevated ozone levels that exceed and atmospheric dynamics may transport ozone federal standards. Contaminants such as nitrogen and ozone precursors to the shoreline. With this oxides and volatile organic compounds interact with information, state and local governments will be sunlight and hot temperatures to form ozone. able to determine the best steps to protect their communities. 9 COLLABORATING WITH DOCTORS AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS EPA accomplishes its mission of protecting public health through research and partnerships that help people make healthy decisions for themselves and their communities. EPA works with public health partners to share information and tools, and to collaborate on projects. Working directly with doctors and health professionals gives EPA insight into public health challenges and science needs at a local level. These collaborations are already having positive impacts. Teaming Up with Doctors to Fight Heart Disease Working with partners, EPA is increasing outreach and training for public health professionals on the impacts of air pollution and cardiovascular health. EPA has been raising awareness of heart disease and its link to air pollution and other environmental factors as a partner in Million Hearts, a national initiative to prevent heart attacks and strokes. EPA worked with the Centers for Disease Control to develop a course for healthcare professionals called Particle Pollution and Your Patients’ Health. The course provides tools to help patients understand how particle pollution affects health and how to effectively use the EPA Air Quality Index. 10 11 PROTECTING PEOPLE FROM WILDFIRE SMOKE Fires are increasing in frequency, size, and intensity, yet there is limited knowledge of the health impacts of smoke emissions and preventive measures that can be taken to reduce public health impacts. EPA is using its expertise in air quality research to fill in these gaps and help reduce the impact of wildfires and controlled burns. Helping Kansas with Controlled To help with this issue, EPA researchers traveled Burns to Flint Hills, Kansas, in fall 2017 to take air measurements during the planned fires using Central Kansas is home to the largest remaining a novel air sampling system developed by EPA. tallgrass prairie in North America. Fires were Researchers had previously visited the area in once a natural occurrence, but now they are spring 2017 during peak burn season to take intentionally set during prescribed burns. The air samples. They are using the two data sets to fires