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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
