Abstract
Before a community-wide woodstove changeout program, a chemical mass balance (CMB) source apportionment study was conducted in Libby, MT, during the winter of 2003-2004 to identify the sources of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) within the valley. Results from this study showed that residential woodstoves were the major source, contributing approximately 80% of the ambient PM2.5 throughout the winter months. In an effort to lower the ambient PM2.5, a large woodstove changeout program was conducted in Libby from 2005 to 2007 in which nearly 1200 old woodstoves were changed out with cleaner burning models. During the winter of 2007-2008, a follow-up CMB source apportionment study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the changeout. Results from this study showed that average winter PM2.5 mass was reduced by 20%, and woodsmoke-related PM2.5 (as identified by the CMB model) was reduced by 28% when compared with the pre-changeout winter of 2003-2004. These results suggest that a woodstove changeout can be an effective tool in reducing ambient levels of PM2.5 in woodstove-impacted communities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 688-693 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 2010 |
Funding
The authors thank the Lincoln County Health Department (specifically Ms. Kathi Hooper) and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality for funding and assistance with the sampling program. The Health Effects Institute provided primary funding for this project (no. 4743-RFA04-4/06-4). Additional funding was provided by the National Institutes of Health Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence grant P20 RR017670 from the National Center for Research Resources.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Lincoln County Environmental Health Department | |
| P20 RR017670 | |
| P20RR017670 | |