Air Quality

PhD students earn top National Science Foundation fellowships

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 22:51:12 +0000

PhD students earn top National Science Foundation fellowships Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/24/2024 - 16:51

Jeff Zehnder

The National Science Foundation has bestowed three prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards to University of Colorado Boulder mechanical engineering graduate students.

The national awards recognize and support outstanding grad students from across the country in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees.

PhD students Reegan Ketzenberger, Caleb Song, and Jennifer Wu are each receiving the honor for 2024. Find out more about their research below.

Awardees receive a $37,000 annual stipend and cost of education allowance for the next three years as well as professional development opportunities.

Two mechanical engineering PhD students, Alex Hedrick and Carly Rowe, also received honorable mentions from the National Science Foundation program.

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CU Boulder Engineering study finds at least nine pesticide chemicals near Boulder County homes

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 22:41:01 +0000

CU Boulder Engineering study finds at least nine pesticide chemicals near Boulder County homes Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/28/2022 - 16:41

Rachel Leuthauser

EPA guidance and resources about pesticides

Find 'Minimum Risk Pesticides'

Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering researchers have identified at least nine pesticide chemicals in the air around Boulder County homes that humans and their dogs have been exposed to.

The air quality study, led by PhD candidate Aniya Khalili and funded by a University of Colorado Boulder Outreach Award, tracked the chemicals that people and their dogs came into contact with in fall 2021. The 38 human-dog pairs that participated in the study had to wear wristbands and dog collar clips for a week that contained sampling tubes to measure the pesticides around them.

“We used high-resolution mass spectrometry to analyze the samples," said Khalili. "The results showed that of the 15 compounds we were testing for, we detected nine of them. Three of them were detected in all the human and dog samples.”

The three compounds identified in all 76 samples were n-nitrosodiphenylamine, 4-nitroaniline and 4-chloroaniline. Each of those compounds can be found in pesticides and could pose various health risks including eye, skin and respiratory tract irritation. Very high and repeated exposures may damage the liver and kidneys, according to the EPA.

Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate Aniya Khalili documents the results of her study.

Khalili handles one of the dog collar clips that tracks the chemicals in the air.

“These results could mean that the chemicals are in the air since the 38 people are not living together and have different lifestyles,” said Khalili. “If they are exposed to the same compound, it could say something about the community that we are living in.”

The study also detected DDD in one human and two dogs, and DDT in two humans and one dog, even though the United States has banned the use of both due to damage to wildlife. The EPA has said that "after the use of DDT was discontinued in the United States, its concentration in the environment and animals has decreased, but because of its persistence, residues of concern from historical use still remain."

“The fact that we even have detected DDD and DDT in any of the participants’ samples is a big deal,” said Khalili. “There is a 99% correlation between the dogs and their owners that were exposed to DDD and DDT, and yes, it is a small percentage out of the 38 pairings in the whole study. But we shouldn’t be exposed to those compounds at all.”

Khalili’s study focused on detecting the compounds rather than identifying where they are coming from. She noted the chemicals could have originated from pesticides, dog tick and flea medications, or industrial sources.

Khalili conducted this research after seeing several yellow flags on people’s yards around Boulder indicating that chemicals had recently been applied. She wanted to educate the community about the compounds that are in some of those pesticides and inspire people to live cleaner lifestyles.

Many of the participants have told Khalili that they are already being more conscious about using pesticides around their homes to protect themselves and their dogs. Khalili said she’s proud and excited to see community members taking this next step. Moving forward, she wants to promote even bigger changes.

“I would love to see the regulations around the compounds in these products that we use for gardening be revised,” said Khalili. “It wouldn’t happen overnight. We would need more studies to ensure that policymakers can rely on the results and make a change. I’d like to not see those yellow flags around anymore.”

Khalili partnered with the City of Boulder and Healthy Baby Bright Futures to recruit participants and design the deployment of the study, since the city and organization are well connected with the community. Both collaborators also had a stake in the research, as they were interested in seeing what compounds are in their air.

“It was important to work with the City of Boulder because they could be empowered to make changes to regulations,” said Khalili. “With Healthy Baby Bright Futures, it was an educational opportunity. Our study can help teach mothers to not let their babies crawl on chemically treated grass, for example.”

The air quality study, led by mechanical engineering PhD candidate Aniya Khalili, aims to inspire the community to lead cleaner lifestyles and promote further research on pesticide exposure.

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How does Marshall Fire smoke affect indoor, outdoor air quality?

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 21:30:29 +0000

How does Marshall Fire smoke affect indoor, outdoor air quality? Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/14/2022 - 14:30

Professors Michael Hannigan and Marina Vance join scientists from CIRES and NOAA to install instruments in surviving houses to understand the smoke impacts on indoor air quality.

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The Conversation: Here’s where (and how) you are most likely to catch COVID – new study

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 20:45:59 +0000

The Conversation: Here’s where (and how) you are most likely to catch COVID – new study Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/11/2022 - 13:45

Professor Shelly Miller shares her recent research about COVID-19 transmission with The Conversation.

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In 2022, consider these 5 climate resolutions

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 20:09:05 +0000

In 2022, consider these 5 climate resolutions Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/17/2021 - 13:09

When possible, choose electricity over gas at home. Using natural gas makes your home a hidden source of air pollution, according to research from mechanical engineering faculty.

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As Los Angeles traffic slowed amid pandemic, researchers gained air pollution insights

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 20:24:20 +0000

As Los Angeles traffic slowed amid pandemic, researchers gained air pollution insights Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/30/2021 - 13:24

A team of scientists led by the Department of Mechanical Engineering are using the once-in-a-lifetime event to answer an unusual question: How much do vehicles in a city like Los Angeles add to the ammonia emissions that can hang in the air and sicken residents?

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Don’t throw that cloth mask away yet—it still works

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 21:01:03 +0000

Don’t throw that cloth mask away yet—it still works Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/09/2021 - 15:01

The reusable cloth masks people have been using for the past year or more may look a little worse for the wear. But new research from Professor Marina Vance finds that washing and drying them doesn’t reduce their ability to filter out viral particles.

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First Annual Report Highlights Links Between Air Quality and Climate Change

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 20:30:04 +0000

First Annual Report Highlights Links Between Air Quality and Climate Change Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 09/07/2021 - 14:30

Two CIRES scientists working in NOAA laboratories contributed to the World Meteorological Organization's first-ever Air Quality and Climate Bulletin.

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Amid wildfires and a pandemic, here’s how to keep your indoor air clean

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 16:48:16 +0000

Amid wildfires and a pandemic, here’s how to keep your indoor air clean Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 09/07/2021 - 10:48

Professor Marina Vance shares easy and effective ways to keep our indoor air clean from ozone, wildfire smoke and COVID-19.

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Alumni Spotlight: Prateek Shrestha builds technology to raise awareness about Nepal’s poor air quality

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:26:22 +0000

Alumni Spotlight: Prateek Shrestha builds technology to raise awareness about Nepal’s poor air quality Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/02/2021 - 10:26

Rachel Leuthauser

Prateek Shrestha (PhDMechEngr’18)

A University of Colorado Boulder alumnus is developing a program to raise awareness about the air quality in Nepal, a country facing some of the most dire impacts from air pollution in the world. The program starts with a single air-monitoring drone that Prateek Shrestha (PhDMechEngr’18) hopes will inspire citizen scientists to build similar technology.

Shrestha, who received his PhD in mechanical engineering from CU Boulder in 2018, grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal. He watched the city’s air quality deteriorate over the past three decades as the population boomed.

Nepal’s air quality is considered the third worst in the world. It’s ranked 178 out of 180 countries, according to Yale’s 2020 Environmental Performance Index. In Asia, Kathmandu is rated as one of the most polluted cities.

“There’s a plethora of problems when you look at a place like Nepal,” Shrestha said. “Originally coming from there, I always felt like I needed to give back to the community. With the lessons that I learned at CU Boulder and the expertise that I built here, I want to contribute however I can.”

Shrestha’s idea to give back begins by educating people about the state of Nepal’s air quality. To accomplish that, Shrestha partnered with Nepal-based satellite company ORION Space to engineer a versatile aerial-monitoring instrument that maps local air pollutants.

The locally developed device is a low-cost sensor box that detects the pollutants, attached to a drone. Shrestha said the sensor box itself is easy to build, with some basic knowledge of ‘do-it-yourself’ electronics. Shrestha then collaborated with academics from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Tribhuvan University’s Institute of Engineering in Kathmandu, who provided the drone.

Shrestha said he expects the adaptable sensor box and drone combination could take air quality measurements at any location within a three-dimensional space, permitted by local regulations.

A look inside the air-quality sensor box used for the aerial-monitoring device.

“Because the system is so small, we’re talking about one tiny drone with limited range and endurance carrying this instrument around, we are only focusing on hyper-local mapping for right now,” Shrestha said. “Which means if there’s a road with a lot of traffic blowing dark diesel exhaust, we can focus on that region of the city.”

The air quality monitoring device is still in development. Shrestha said his team is optimizing the sensor box and testing the drone flights, carrying the sensor box as a payload.

Once the aerial-monitoring instrument launches, Shrestha intends for it to be a demonstration for how the technology can be used. The pilot program will also be proof that other people can build similar devices in Nepal, he added. That is where Shrestha’s proposed network of citizen scientists comes in.

Amateur researchers can build their own instruments based on low-cost sensors, take measurements and share the data publicly. The idea is inspired by people in the United States, and around the world, who are getting involved in air quality and weather monitoring from their own homes.

Shrestha pointed to Weather Underground as an example. It is a company that receives a lot of its data from consumer-grade science equipment in people’s backyards. Shrestha said it’s a great tool for increasing public awareness.

“There is no general involvement of citizen science that is easily accessible to students and academics who want to do their own research on a very low budget in Nepal,” Shrestha explained. “I felt that if I could take this low-cost sensor technology to Nepal, we could build local capacity in citizen science and at the same time, get a sense of which parts of the city are more polluted and which are less.”

Technology used to develop the drone that carries the sensor box.

Shrestha envisions a versatile platform that locals in Kathmandu developed. He wants citizens to use the technology, know how to maintain and repair the instruments if something breaks down, and have the expertise to expand the platform’s capabilities if a need arises.

The data could be utilized in various ways, Shrestha said. He anticipates it will be collected to create air pollution maps that show air quality problems in certain parts of a city or town. Those measurements could galvanize small intervention steps, like watering a dusty road to suppress pollutants in the air. The data could also encourage regulatory agencies to take action.

“The data could be further analyzed to show how many people are getting impacted by the pollutants and highlight the severity of those impacts,” Shrestha said. “An outcome of this could be to even urge the local government to take necessary steps, like paving and repairing roads in specific locations, and provide supporting data.”

With the aerial-monitoring instrument still in development, Shrestha is looking for more collaborators and funding. CU Boulder faculty and students should reach out to Shrestha if they are interested in working on this project and making a difference.

“One of my visions is looking at academic research as a means to utilize technology to address real world problems, whether that’s in a developed or developing part of the world” Shrestha said. “If the problem stays the same despite us having knowledge about it for 20 years, it’s meaningless.”

Shrestha is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Integrated Building Performance Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The air-monitoring drone project is Shrestha’s volunteer activity and is not affiliated with the laboratory.

ME alumnus Prateek Shrestha has developed an aerial-monitoring sensor that will help educate people on mapping air pollutants in Nepal.

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