Implications of Volatile Chemical Products for Ozone and Particulate Matter in Urban Atmospheres
About the Webinar
This webinar, hosted by the EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), was recorded on March 16, 2021. The webinar is part of EPA’s Air, Climate, & Energy Research webinar series.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from adhesives, cleaning agents, personal care products, paints, pesticides, and other volatile chemical products (VCPs) result in human exposure in the vicinity of product use. Evaporated VOCs also react in the atmosphere to produce secondary pollutants including ozone and secondary organic aerosol, a contributor to fine particles (PM2.5). While VOCs from these sources have been part of the EPA National Emission Inventory for decades, reductions in tailpipe VOC emissions mean that this source is of increasing interest for air quality in urban locations. Southern California is one such location that experiences ozone concentrations persistently in excess of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard and where the EPA Community Multiscale Air Quality model largely underestimates the organic portion of PM2.5 in most air quality management applications.
Current and ongoing work at EPA seeks to understand the magnitude of emissions from VCPs as well as the chemical reactions that result in criteria pollutant formation. This webinar will cover how the contribution of VCPs to ozone and fine particle pollution was constrained using models and measurements with a focus on southern California.
About the Presenter
Dr. Havala O. T. Pye joined the EPA in 2011 as a research scientist in the Office of Research and Development. Her work focuses on computational methods to understand fine particles and other airborne pollutants that can impact human health and climate change. Specifically, she leads work on the representation of fine particles and organic species in the Community Multiscale Air Quality modeling system allowing for improved quantification of air pollution impacts in regulatory analysis. She has mentored 9 postdocs and students at EPA and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health. Dr. Pye received her BS in Chemical Engineering summa cum laude from the University of Florida in 2005 and a PhD in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Environmental Science and Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2011. Dr. Pye has authored or co-authored 56 peer-reviewed journal articles with over 4,000 citations, including 5 articles in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as given 17 invited talks. Dr. Pye is the recipient of multiple EPA Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards and a bronze medal for commendable service. In 2017, she was recognized with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers.