About Dr. Stuart Batterman
Dr. Batterman's research and teaching interests address environmental impact assessment, human exposure and health risk assessment, and environmental management. His research addresses both theoretical work and applied laboratory and field studies. He is particularly interested in improving exposure measures that can be used in risk assessments and epidemiological studies; measuring toxic compounds including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found as pollutants in drinking water, ambient and indoor air, and statistical and modeling methods that can be used to interpret and extend available measurements. His research is applied to contemporary problems including ambient and indoor air quality, environmental epidemiology, policy analysis, environmental engineering, environmental justice, and life cycle analysis. His international projects include training and research programs in the environmental sciences and engineering in Africa (especially South Africa) and Europe (especially Portugal, Russia and Finland). He directs the Hazardous Substances Academic Training Program and the Pilot Project Research Program in the NIOSH-supported Education and Resource Center. Professor, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Coimbra, Portugal.
Resources
University of Michigan School for Public Health
NPR: "Dangerous wildfire smoke continues to blanket parts of the U.S."
Transcription
Rebekah Warren: This is 89.1 WEMU. From beautiful summer days along the Huron River to neighborhood parks and backyard barbecues, spending time outdoors is one of the great joys of living in Washtenaw County. But this summer, many of us found ourselves looking outside in an orange haze and wondering whether it was safe to even step outside. Smoke from massive Canadian wildfires drifted hundreds of miles into southeast Michigan, producing some of the worst air quality our region has ever recorded. Emergency rooms saw increases in respiratory illness, air quality monitors reached levels that many experts had never seen before, and, suddenly, terms like "PM 2.5" and "AQI" became part of our everyday conversations. Why are these smoke events becoming more common? And perhaps more importantly, what can each of us do to protect ourselves and our families? This is Issues of the Environment, and I'm your host, Rebekah Warren. Today, I'm joined by Dr. Stuart Batterman. Professor Emeritus of Environmental Health and Sciences and Global Public Health at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Batterman has spent decades studying the relationship between our environment and our health. Dr. Batterman, thank you so much for joining us this morning!
Dr. Stuart Batterman: I'm very happy to be here!
Rebekah Warren: Many of us experienced poor air quality before, but something about this recent event felt entirely different. Air quality readings around Ann Arbor climbed above 400 on the air quality index, while some monitors in the Detroit area reached levels never before recorded in Michigan. Can you help us understand what made this smoke event so extraordinary?
Dr. Stuart Batterman: That's absolutely right! Our air quality levels reached pretty much unprecedented levels, and it occurred over a large area, not just southeast Michigan, but, in fact, across much of the upper Midwest. This smoke came from relatively distant fires in Minnesota and Alberta and Ontario. That smoke, when it travels here, undergoes some reactions and some chemical processing in the atmosphere. But basically, when it comes to Michigan, it's at a size which penetrates deep into our lungs. It avoids our filters pretty effectively, so it goes right through them. And so, we had really high levels of these small particles that reach down deep into your lungs that can cause a number of different health impacts. On top of that, it lasted a couple of days. And so, ideas of things like sheltering in place, going into a building, trying to get into a clean space, are less effective when the pollution is prolonged. So, this kind of problem can result in a number of health symptoms. And we know quite a lot about air pollution and the effects that it has. And essentially, it's a thing that we really need to take steps to mitigate and to minimize the adverse health impacts, particularly for susceptible populations.
Rebekah Warren: When those air quality index levels reach that high, what is actually even in the air that we're breathing? You mentioned some things about the particulates, and we've heard the term PM 2.5, which sounds very technical, but seems like something we should all start to understand. Can you explain what that is and why these microscopic particles pose such serious health risks?
Dr. Stuart Batterman: Sure. So, PM is a name for particulate matter. This is essentially just particles. They could be droplets, they could be pollen, they could be dust, they can be combustion particles, they could be diesel exhaust. This all falls into the category of what we call particulate matter. We group the particulate matter into different size categories. Since, for about 15 years now, we've been controlling and monitoring particulate matter called PM 2.5, which are particles that have a diameter less than two-and-a-half microns. This is microscopic. You can't see these particles. We can make comparisons. For example, if you take a typical human hair, it's about 40 to 60 microns, so you can imagine the diameter of hair is on the order of ten times more than these particles. So, they're really tiny. You can't see them. But you inhale them. And during the fire event, you could inhale well over a million of these small particles in every single breath that you take. And these particles go down through your nose and your bronchi, and they reach the deepest parts of your lung. And that's why they're so dangerous.
Rebekah Warren: I'm Rebekah Warren, and you're listening to Issues of the Environment on 89.1 WEMU. Today, we're talking with Dr. Stuart Batterman from the University of Michigan School of Public Health about Canadian wildfire smoke, air quality, and protecting our health in a changing climate. Dr. Batterman, you're telling us about the type of measurement that you can do, this PM 2.5. But wildfire smoke isn't simply made up of soot and ash. Researchers continue to discover that smoke plumes can transport billions of microscopic bacteria and fungal spores over enormous distances, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of miles from the fire itself. Can you talk to us about what else is in the smoke that we should be aware of?
Dr. Stuart Batterman: Well, you're right. There are a number of different components in the smoke, and there's also gasses as well, things like nitrogen oxides. And one of the interesting aspects of wildfire events is that they can increase levels of other pollutants, besides particulate matter. Ozone is the the best example, and this is actually a bit problematic because southeast Michigan experiences high levels of ozone on many days during the warmer periods because of the way ozone is formed. And the smoke events make it worse, and our regulatory structure considers these to be exceptional events and excludes them from the regulatory process. It's a bit of an aside from the main problem associated with wildfire smoke, which is particulate matter. This is the pollutant that we care most about because its health effects are best understood. And the concentrations of particulate matter are much higher than normal. Although you're absolutely right. There are other pollutants associated with wildfire smoke that can be hazardous.
Rebekah Warren: Your research also seems to underscore a particularly dangerous phenomenon, the compounding threat of heat and smoke and this combination of high temperatures and poor air quality, which significantly can intensify the discomfort and health risks, particularly for those who have pre-existing conditions or are vulnerable. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about that, the combination of both these high heat days and also these particulates in the air?
Dr. Stuart Batterman: You know, we're particularly concerned about outside workers who are exposed to wildfire smoke and have a lot of thermal stress. And sadly, we don't have many laws that require farm workers and construction workers and so forth to get breaks and have cooling centers and clear air centers. We're also very concerned about folks who don't have air conditioning and filtration in their homes, which can help mitigate the heat and the particulates and other pollutants as well. And so, these folks can be particularly exposed, and we're really concerned about those folks. There are others that are susceptible to fire events, folks that have pre-existing disease like asthma, young children, pregnant women, older adults, all of these folks are more sensitive to having breathing difficulties, chronic lung disease, exacerbated emergency department visits, hospital admissions and so forth, due to respiratory and cardiovascular problems. So, it really affects a lot of folks. There are things that we can do about it. There are sort of short-term, mid-term and long-term actions that can be done. But in the short term, you need to try to avoid exposure to smoke, wear an N95 type of respirator, stay indoors somewhere that's cool, that has filtered air, and that's what you can do in the short term.
Rebekah Warren: You recently helped evaluate a remarkably affordable solution, a homemade air purifier built with a box fan and a MERV-13 furnace filter. Can you explain why that works?
Dr. Stuart Batterman: Sure! That's a really important point! You know, most of us in Michigan live in homes that have furnace systems. We call them heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems. You have a blower. You have a furnace filter. These filters, when the homes were built, were very coarse fiberglass things. You could see through them. They might capture butterflies and things like that, but they'll do nothing for these tiny particles. In most cases, if you have a furnace filter, you can upgrade that to something called a MERV-13. This is a rating system, which is based on how effectively it works at removing particles. These can be drop-in replacements. They're much better than the fiberglass filter. They are much better than a sort of default MERV-8 filter, and they can remove a good chunk of the PM 2.5. Now, if you live in a home without a furnace, if you have radiators or electric heating, something like that, you can put an air purifier. It's not going to do the whole house, but it will do a space, and it will be pretty effective. My assessment of typical homes is that this will reduce pollutant levels by about two to three times. By the way, the same thing applies in your car. You can put in a cabin air filter, which is a more efficient one. That can provide about the same advantage if you find yourself on the road a lot.
Rebekah Warren: Dr. Batterman, thank you for helping us better understand what happened during this recent smoke event and for sharing practical steps that we can all take to protect ourselves and our health! For more information on our conversation today, visit our website at WEMU.org. Issues of the environment is produced in partnership with the Office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner, and you hear it here every Wednesday. I'm Rebekah Warren, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU, Ypsilanti.
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