Title: Novel ultrasensitive spatiotemporal measurements of volatile organic compounds outdoors and indoors

Abstract:

Our understanding of the chemical composition of outdoor and indoor atmosphere, spatiotemporal variability of pollution sources, chemical exposures, and their effects on human health is limited by the lack of chemically speciated and spatially resolved ambient measurements. This seminar presents novel real-time measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) aboard a "sniff-mobile" lab enabling spatiotemporal evaluation of pollution hotspots and quantification of community exposure to conventional and emerging air pollutants. We used a Vocus 2R proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Vocus-PTR-ToF-MS aka the "Sniffer") which offers a sub-part-per-trillion detection limit (sub-ppt) to map out spatiotemporal distribution of hundreds of gas-phase chemicals including air toxics at the community level in different regions of Texas, focusing on anthropogenic and biogenic sources. The pilot data show potential for regional source apportionment of pollutants and offer a new approach to quantify community exposure to adverse air quality at neighborhood scales. Direct laboratory measurements of chemical source fingerprinting and chemistry from microbiomes are also discussed.

BIO

Dr. Pawel Misztal is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a founder and director of the UT Sniffer Lab where his research group focuses on fundamental discoveries and big research questions in air quality and human health. He is an expert in novel time-resolved measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and has more than 10 years of experience measuring atmospheric chemical composition at different spatiotemporal scales outdoors and indoors. Earlier, as a research specialist in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, at the University of California, Berkeley, he led the first direct regional airborne VOC emission measurements in California to evaluate air quality models used by the California Air Resources Board.

Bio: Dr. Misztal is an author on more than 40 peer reviewed papers. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, and a UT Austin PI on several large air quality and related projects including DOE IFL, NOAA AC4, HEI Energy, A.P. Sloan, and FEMA DHS. He was recognized as the 2022 Texas 10 Most Inspiring Professor by The Alcalde, an official publication of Texas Exes. He and his research group have recently fingerprinted various pollution plumes and quantified emission rates from numerous conventional and unconventional air pollution sources including wastewater treatment plants, heated asphalts, and a vast number of volatile chemical products including antimicrobials and disinfectants. Dr. Misztal is a proponent of the novel measurements of rich volatile chemical markers for quantified source apportionment behind air quality impacts from biogenic and anthropogenic processes affecting urban air quality, environmental justice, and human health.