{"id":536804,"date":"2010-04-21T10:30:05","date_gmt":"2010-04-21T14:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.epa.gov\/blog\/?p=2563"},"modified":"2010-04-21T10:30:05","modified_gmt":"2010-04-21T14:30:05","slug":"science-wednesday-from-iceland%e2%80%99s-ash-potential-particle-insights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/536804","title":{"rendered":"Science Wednesday: From Iceland\u2019s Ash, Potential Particle Insights"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Each week we write about the science behind environmental protection. Previous Science Wednesdays.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The recent volcanic eruption in Iceland has focused international attention on tiny particles called aerosols that have been the subject of scientific scrutiny at EPA for decades.<\/p>\n

Much of this week\u2019s media frenzy has focused on airport chaos related to the eruption, but the potential health impacts to those breathing the volcanic aerosols also deserve consideration.<\/p>\n

Though the particles from Iceland\u2019s plume vary considerably in makeup from the particles EPA typically investigates (from vehicles, factories, and dust), the eruption may contribute to our general understanding of airborne particles and their potential health impacts.<\/p>\n

According to Daniel Costa, EPA\u2019s national program director for air research, volcanic ash is not nearly as toxic to the lungs as particles from typical urban sources, like traffic. However, he explained, they \u201cmay result in coughing and sneezing,\u201d and may be especially irritating to \u201casthmatics and people with cardiopulmonary disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Costa and other EPA scientists and grantees have previously studied the health effects of particles from Mount St. Helen\u2019s, a volcano in Washington State that erupted violently in 1980.<\/p>\n

According to accounts of the eruption from the National Forest Service, \u201ca mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over eastern Washington and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

While \u201cpound for pound, volcanic ash is much, much less toxic than typical air pollution particles,\u201d Costa said, \u201c\u2026when combined with dust, sulfur dioxide and other gaseous emissions from volcanic emissions may be pretty potent acting through different pathways with the same result.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Mount St. Helen\u2019s eruption, scientists spent years studying, observing and analyzing data from the event. Air pollution experts at EPA believe more could potentially be learned from future studies of Iceland\u2019s far-reaching plume.<\/p>\n

\"volcano_1-usgs\"Bryan Bloomer, atmospheric scientist at EPA\u2019s National Center for Environmental Research, said that \u201cfor meteorologists, atmospheric scientists, and climate scientists, it will be interesting to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a lot to be learned about wind currents from the movement of the plume, the application of remote sensing and satellite imagery to aerosol modeling, and also observations we can make about the effects of the eruption on temperature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shockwaves from the eruption are mostly being felt abroad, but resulting awareness of airborne particles as a health threat should resonate right here at home, where particle pollution of a different sort remains a major environmental policy priority. \u206f
\n
\nAbout the Author: Becky Fried is a science writer with EPA\u2019s National Center for Environmental Research and a regular contributor to Science Wednesday.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each week we write about the science behind environmental protection. Previous Science Wednesdays. The recent volcanic eruption in Iceland has focused international attention on tiny particles called aerosols that have been the subject of scientific scrutiny at EPA for decades. Much of this week\u2019s media frenzy has focused on airport chaos related to the eruption, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6809,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-536804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536804\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}