Intercommunity differences in acid aerosol (H+)/sulfate (SO4(2-) ratios.

Exposures to acid aerosols have been associated with acute and chronic health effects. Beginning in 1988, extensive monitoring of acid aerosols (H+), sulfates (SO4(2-)), and ammonia (NH3) was conducted in 24 communities in the United States and Canada in order to characterize the seasonal and daily variations of these pollutants. More recently, in 1992 and 1993, summer monitoring of the same pollutants was conducted by Harvard researchers at multiple locations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to examine the factors causing spatial variation in the acidity levels in the greater metropolitan Philadelphia area. Earlier, a similar study also was conducted by Harvard in a more rural community, State College, Ohio, providing data on acidity, sulfate, and ammonia levels. In addition to these studies, New York University researchers have gathered substantial data on aerosol acidity, sulfates, and NH3 levels from sites in the New York City metropolitan region, Albany, Buffalo, and the Toronto metropolitan region between 1988 and 1992. This paper examines the relationships among H+, SO4(2-), ozone, and population density using summer measurements from sites in 24 cities across the United States and Canada, as well as Philadelphia, State College, the New York City region, Buffalo, and Albany. While past studies have consistently shown that H+ and SO4(2-) are correlated over time at sites in eastern North America, the results of our analysis show that spatial variations in the ratios of mean acid-to-sulfate levels also can be predicted satisfactorily with the use of either a linear or a quadratic model, once variations in population density are addressed (R2 = 0.6). These models may be useful in retrospective epidemiological investigations of acid aerosol exposures and health effects, using widely available sulfate measurements and data on local population size.