New mobile air monitoring technology provides greater insight into pollution levels after disasters

A team including researchers from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health and School of Medicine has found that high-resolution mass spectrometry could be a valuable tool to identify and evaluate airborne contaminants caused by natural and man-made disasters. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.

Scientists used high-resolution mass spectrometry (a highly accurate means of identifying molecular compounds in samples) in the fall of 2023 to identify volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that were present after a devastating fire in Richmond, Indiana on April 11, 2023. A fire and subsequent explosion at the MyWay plastic recycling plant led to the evacuation of residents within a half-mile radius of the facility. The fire was large enough to be captured on satellite imagery, and debris was found as far away as Oxford, Ohio, about 30 miles from the site.

“The Environmental Protection Agency undertakes extensive and long-term recovery efforts after disasters like these,” said Dr. Natalie Johnson, a research scientist in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. “Our study demonstrates that this method can provide accurate data quickly and can help officials determine optimal evacuation zones after a disaster.”

Other members of the team are Eva C. M. Vitucci, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, and Carolyn L. Cannon, MD, PhD, of the Texas A&M University College of Medicine, as well as two colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University.

The research team used high-resolution mass spectrometry and nontargeted analytical methods — relatively new computational tools for detecting and identifying chemicals in environmental exposures — to monitor the air within and near the border of the half-mile evacuation zone.

Johnson said the approach is superior to methods currently used in the field, which frequently have issues including equipment sensitivity, time limitations for sampling and the ability to characterize a wide range of contaminants. Non-targeted analysis, on the other hand, can quickly and effectively identify all compounds, including those that were not known to be present in the first place. The approach has shown promise in previous tests, but this is the first time it has been applied to an actual disaster.

After receiving training and guidance in the Hazard Comparison module from Antony Williams of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Computational Toxicology and Exposure Center, the research team used the module to develop a risk assessment from the VOCs present. Analysis identified 46 VOCs, with average levels in the study area higher than those found in Middleton, Ohio, about 520 miles away.

Concentrations of hydrogen cyanide, which blocks the body's use of oxygen and can be deadly, and four other VOCs were at least 1.8 times higher near the accident site. Of the 46 VOCs, about 45 percent were classified as high hazard and 39 percent as extremely hazardous.

“While the VOC levels we detected were each below the hazard threshold for individual exposure, at this time we don't fully know what the hazard threshold for exposure to such VOC mixtures might be,” Johnson said.

She noted that facilities like MyWay contain large amounts of harmful toxins and many different toxins, making it difficult to predict what VOCs will be produced in a fire or similar disaster.

“Recycling plant fires and other smaller-scale disasters are often overlooked contributing factors to increased contamination levels, but they are occurring with increasing frequency across the United States,” Johnson said. “This makes research and application of research findings an urgent public health issue.”