Residual oil combustion: a major source of airborne nickel in New York City

Abstract

On the basis of previous observations that: (1) both the nickel (Ni) concentration in ambient air fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and daily mortality rates in New York City (NYC) were much higher than in any other US city; and (2) that peaks in Ni concentration was strongly associated with cardiac function in a mouse model of atherosclerosis, we initiated a study of the spatial and seasonal distributions of Ni in NYC and vicinity to determine the feasibility of productive human population-based studies of the extent to which ambient fine particle Ni may account for cardiovascular health effects. Using available speciation data from previous studies at The New York University, Environmental Protection Agency's Speciation Trends Network; and the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments network, we determined that Ni in NYC is on average 2.5 times higher in winter than in summer. This apparent seasonal gradient is absent, or much less pronounced, at NJ and CT speciation sites. Ni concentrations at a site on the east side of Manhattan and at two sites in the western portion of the Bronx were a factor of two higher than at a site on the west side of Manhattan, or at one at Queens College in eastern Queens County, indicating a strong spatial gradient within NYC. We conclude that the winter peaks of fine particle Ni indicate that space heating, which involves the widespread reliance on residual oil combustion in many older residential and commercial buildings in NYC, is a major source of ambient air Ni. Epidemiologic studies based on data generated by a network of speciation sites throughout NYC could effectively test the hypothesis that Ni could account for a significant portion of the excess mortality and morbidity that have been associated with elevated mass concentrations of PM(2.5).

Residual oil combustion: 2. Distributions of airborne nickel and vanadium within New York City

“…The results depicted in Figures 3 and 5 for Ni and V in Bronx, Manhattan and Northern Queens are consistent with those of Peltier et al (2008) that were based solely on EPA, STN, and IMPROVE speciation site data. The new data confirm our expectation that Ni concentrations in the more southern parts of NYC would be much lower than those in the more northerly parts of the city, and provide a much clearer picture of the extent of the spatial and seasonal distributions of the elemental concentrations of components associated with residual oil combustion.…”

“…As discussed in our previous paper (Peltier et al, 2008), we showed that a variety of fuel oils are used in New York State for industrial, energy production, transportation, and spaceheating purposes. These fuels include both distillate and residual oils.…”

“…Some illustrative data from the Peltier et al (2008) study are shown in Figure 1 for: (1) the Bronx Botanical Garden, which was the NYC site with the highest concentrations of Ni; (2) Elizabeth, NJ, near the Port of New York, which had the highest Ni concentrations at a site outside NYC; and (3) at Mohawk Mountain in northwest CT, an IMPROVE network background site. This study demonstrated that there were large spatial and seasonal variations of fine particle Ni within the NYC metropolitan region, as well as large spatial and seasonal variability within NYC itself on the basis of the observations at the four NYC STN speciation monitors.…”

“…In their analyses of airborne concentrations of PM 2.5 components, based on EPA Speciation and Trends (STN) data, Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) background site network data collected in NYC, New Jersey (NJ), and Connecticut (CT), and of NYU's own data collected in NYC (east side of midtown Manhattan), Peltier et al (2008) showed that Ni concentrations on the east side of Manhattan and at the two speciation sites in Bronx County were much higher than those at Queens College and those at Canal Street on the western edge of lower Manhattan, which in turn were much higher than those in adjacent areas outside of NYC. Because we noted a highly distinct seasonal trend in fine particle Ni, we suggested that the especially high Ni concentrations in midtown Manhattan and Bronx during the heating season appeared to be largely attributable to space-heating sources.…”

Source apportionment of PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Cork Harbour, Ireland using a combination of single particle mass spectrometry and quantitative semi-continuous measurements

“…While local vehicular traffic was the largest source of ambient PM 2.5 mass in Cork Harbour during the sampling period, shipping traffic contributed significantly to ambient particle number concentrations (18%). Considering that fresh ship exhaust particles reside predominantly in the ultrafine mode and contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and transition metals with known toxicological effects, this source may have implications for human health in the area (Lippmann et al, 2006;Peltier et al, 2008;Murphy et al, 2009;Healy et al, 2009;Sodeau et al, 2009). …”