Environmental Pollution 159 (2011) 2476e2486

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Environmental Pollution
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol

Binational school-based monitoring of trafc-related air pollutants in El Paso,

Texas (USA) and Ciudad Jurez, Chihuahua (Mxico)
Amit U. Raysoni a, *, Jeremy A. Sarnat b, Stefanie Ebelt Sarnat b, Jose Humberto Garcia c,
Fernando Holguin d, Silvia Flores Luvano e, Wen-Whai Li a, f
a

Environmental Science and Engineering Ph.D. Program, The University of Texas, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Centro de Investigacin y Desarrollo Tecnolgico, Tecnolgico de Monterrey, Campus Ciudad Jurez, Ciudad Jurez, Chihuahua 32470, Mexico
d
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
e
Interdisciplinary Health Science Ph.D. Program, College of Health Sciences, The University of Texas, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
f
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Texas, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
b
c

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 18 February 2011
Received in revised form
9 June 2011
Accepted 19 June 2011

Paired indoor and outdoor concentrations of ne and coarse particulate matter (PM), PM2.5 reectance
[black carbon(BC)], and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were determined for sixteen weeks in 2008 at four
elementary schools (two in high and two in low trafc density zones) in a U.S.eMexico border
community to aid a binational health effects study. Strong spatial heterogeneity was observed for all
outdoor pollutant concentrations. Concentrations of all pollutants, except coarse PM, were higher in high
trafc zones than in the respective low trafc zones. Black carbon and NO2 appear to be better trafc
indicators than ne PM. Indoor air pollution was found to be well associated with outdoor air pollution,
although differences existed due to uncontrollable factors involving student activities and building/
ventilation congurations. Results of this study indicate substantial spatial variability of pollutants in the
region, suggesting that childrens exposures to these pollutants vary based on the location of their
school.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Air pollution
Particulate matter
Nitrogen dioxide
Black carbon
USeMexico border
Spatiotemporal variation

1. Introduction
Epidemiologic investigations have identied a link between
trafc-related air pollution and respiratory disorders (Adar et al.,
2007; Finkelstein et al., 2004; Jansen et al., 2005; Peters et al.,
2004; Schwartz et al., 2005), especially in sensitive populations
like the elderly and children with preexisting respiratory disease
(Fischer et al., 2002; Koenig et al., 2005; McConnell et al., 1999;
Steerenberg et al., 2003). Concerns regarding the health impacts
of trafc-related pollution are also pronounced for populations
along the U.S.eMexico border, where high rates of urbanization
and industrial development have led to rapidly deteriorating air
quality. For example, the Paso del Norte (PdN) border region
(comprising the cities of El Paso, Texas, Ciudad Jurez, Chihuahua,
and Sunland Park, New Mexico) has experienced signicant population and economic growth since the passage of the North

* Corresponding author.
E-mail
addresses:
auraysoni@miners.utep.edu,
(A.U. Raysoni).

amit.raysoni@gmail.com

0269-7491/$ e see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2011.06.024

American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, which accelerated binational commerce between these two countries. This
region has also seen an increase in the overall number of motor
vehicles in the cities as well as at the international border crossings (15e16 million passenger cars and 750,000 commercial
vehicles across the four international ports of entry between El
Paso and Ciudad Jurez each year according to the U.S. Department
of Transportation). The PdN region is an area heavily impacted by
trafc emissions from one of the busiest USeMexico border
crossings as well as high local vehicle usage. While Ciudad Juarez
has about four times the population density of El Paso, the daily
vehicles miles traveled for El Paso (15.8
106, EPMPO, 2007) is
likely at least three times higher than that reported for Ciudad
Juarez (4.1
106, Wolf et al., 2003). This leads to high idling time
at the crossings, subsequent border congestion (Currey et al.,
2005), and high trafc emissions in the cities. The PdN, situated
approximately 3800 ft above sea level, represents a paradigmatic
exposure-air pollution challenge in an international setting due
to a large segment of its citizenry residing adjacent to
congested roadways and a further exacerbation of their corresponding health exposures to arid weather, unique topography

A.U. Raysoni et al. / Environmental Pollution 159 (2011) 2476e2486

(Franklin Mountains in El Paso and Sierra Jurez in Ciudad Jurez),

desert surroundings, frequent temperature inversions, and occasional sand storms (Li et al., 2001).
Previous investigations have examined the repercussions of
trafc-related air pollutants on childrens adverse respiratory
outcomes in the PdN region (Hart et al., 1998; Holguin et al., 2007;
Romieu et al., 2003). However, monitoring the impact of trafc
pollution on childrens health in this region remains challenging
due to the lack of sensitive environmental health indicator data.
Characterizing trafc-related pollution within school microenvironments is paramount for children who spend considerable time
in schools. Indeed, the target of comprehending childrens exposures in schools corresponds with the US Environmental Protection
Agencys recent initiative (U.S. EPA, 2006) to promote outdoor air
monitoring networks near schools. Trafc-related air pollutants
such as ne particulate matter (PM2.5 or particles less that 2.5 mm in
diameter), black carbon (BC), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are known
to be spatially and temporally heterogeneous and, in particular,
exhibit sharp concentration gradients at community levels
(Hoek et al., 2002; Lewne et al., 2004; Patel et al., 2009; Pinto et al.,
2004). Of the 12 continuous ambient monitoring stations (CAMS)
operated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
(TCEQ) in El Paso and Ciudad Jurez, few are located in the
immediate vicinities of roadways for measuring direct mobile
emissions or near schools for monitoring childrens exposure to
trafc emissions. Neither PM nor NO2 was monitored at the Ciudad
Juarez stations.
In response to the USeMexico Border 2012 program (U.S. EPA,
2006), which aims at reducing air pollution in this region, we
conducted the rst binational health effects study investigating the
impact of trafc-related air pollution on asthmatic children in El
Paso and Ciudad Jurez (Sarnat et al., 2011). The paper assesses the
level of intra-urban spatial variation among trafc pollutants in the
PdN region and ascertains whether children spending time in high
trafc zones were more exposed to pollutants than children
spending time in low trafc zones. Ultimately, the results from this
study will facilitate the selection of sensitive environmental health
indicators for assessing and preventing childrens health risk from
exposure to trafc-related air pollution (Sarnat et al., 2011).
2. Study design and methods
2.1. Site selection: low vs. high trafc zones
Four elementary schools located within distinct low and high trafc density
zones in each city were selected to participate in this study. In our study, the low
trafc zones refer to zones that consist of only local streets such as alleys, cul-desacs, driveways, and/or side roads and the high trafc zones refer to zones within
300 ft of principal arterials, or high-service capacity controlled-access roadways,
with heavy truck trafc. In El Paso, the low trafc exposure school (EP-A) was located
in a residential area with minimal trafc in northeastern part of the city. A school
situated immediately adjacent to the Border Highway (Route 375), which runs along
the USeMexico Border fence, was selected as the high trafc exposure school (EP-B).
Route 375 is a major arterial highway for northbound commercial trucks as well as
local commuter vehicles at all hours. In Ciudad Jurez, the low trafc exposure
school (CJ-A) was located in a residential area surrounded by unpaved streets
whereas the high trafc exposure school (CJ-B) was located adjacent to two major
highways that might have experienced heavy volumes of diesel and motor trafc at
all hours. A gasoline and diesel fuel service station and the largest bus terminal in
Ciudad Jurez were located in close proximity (approximately 0.55 miles) to CJ-B.
The locations of the four schools and nearby available TCEQ CAMS sites are shown
in Fig. 1.

2477

am. The sampling durations for the pollutant measurements were selected to
correspond with childrens time-activity patterns, to collect sufcient quantity of
mass for gravimetric analysis, and to provide sufcient time-resolved data for the
epidemiologic component of the study.
For outdoor measurements, the monitoring units were set up on the roof (4e5 m
above the ground) of each school. For indoor measurements, the samplers were
located in a room reecting the general indoor environment of the school and where
students were likely to spend substantial amount of their time. Indoor locations
included: space near a teachers work desk in a computer room (EP-A); a library
reference room (EP-B); on top of a locker in a classroom (CJ-A); and a library (CJ-B).
2.3. Sample collection and laboratory analyses
PM samples were collected using Harvard 5LPM cascade impactors (Demokritou
et al., 2002). The impactors operated with two impaction stages resulting in the
collection of PM102.5 on polyurethane foam (PUF, Lee et al., 2006) and PM2.5 on
Teon lter. The lters used were 37 mm diameter, 2 mm pore size PTFE (polytetrauoroethylene) lters (Pall Life Sciences, Ann Arbor, MI). MEDO Pumps (Model
No.VP0125) were employed to generate a constant air stream of 5  5% l/min into
the cascade samplers. The sampling ow rate was determined onsite with the
sampler in place before and after the sampling period using a Buck ow calibrator
(Model M-30, 0.1-30 LPM, A.P.Buck, Inc.). PM2.5 and PM102.5 mass concentrations
(mg/m3) were quantied by gravimetric analysis at the University of Texas at El Paso
(UTEP) Air Quality Laboratory using a CAHN model C-33 microbalance (Orion
Research, 1997) and a Mettler MX5 (Mettler-Toledo, Greifensee, Switzerland),
respectively. All samples were pre- and post- conditioned to room temperature
(25  3  C) and humidity (30  5%) for at least 24 h in the laboratory by storing them
in a custom-made storage cabinet prior to weighing. Detailed laboratory operating
procedures are provided by Li et al. (2001) and Orquiz (2001). PM10 values were
obtained by summing PM2.5 and PM102.5 masses collected on the two stages of the
impactor.
PM2.5 lters were further analyzed by reectometry for the blackness or loss of
reectance, as a proxy for soot or black carbon, which is considered a good indicator of trafc-related emissions (Gtschi et al., 2002; Kinney et al., 2000). Reectance was measured using a Digital Smoke Stain Reectometer (Model No: EEL 43D,
Diffusion Systems Ltd). The lab blank lters were used to set reectance at 100
percent, and the sampled lter was measured 5 times on different locations (5-point
method); the average of these ve measurements was used in the calculations.
Percentage of the reectance was transformed into absorption coefcients using the
standard ISO approved method (ISO 9835, 1993(E)). The absorption coefcient was
multiplied by 105 (Cyrys et al., 2003; Fischer et al., 2000) and was used to estimate
mg BC on the lter and subsequently the BC concentrations (mg/m3) in the air
collected.
Nitrogen dioxide concentrations were measured using passive badge samplers
(Ogawa & Company, Pompano Beach, Florida, USA) containing a single cellulose
lter coated with triethanolamine to collect NO2. All samplers were prepared at the
Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Loaded samples collected from the eld
were stored at 4  C in the UTEP Air Quality Laboratory before shipping to HSPH for
subsequent extraction and ion chromatography analysis (Ogawa, 1997).
Hourly air quality data from six TCEQ CAMS sites in the region were also
collected (Fig. 1). Variables of interest included PM10, PM2.5, NO2, relative humidity,
temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and wind gust. These data were averaged
over 48- and 96-h to correspond with the eld-based measurements.
2.4. QA/QC of the data
Data quality assurance procedures were enforced to ensure minimal contamination in sample handling and eld work. A set of eld blanks and duplicate samples
were collected on both sides of the border for each eld sampling session. Limit of
Detection (LOD) was determined as three times the standard deviation of the eld
blanks. For a given pollutant, precision was estimated as the root mean squared
difference between the collocated samplers, divided by the square root of 2 (Sarnat
et al., 2000). Completeness was calculated as the number of samples collected
divided by the target number of samples. LOD, precision and completeness values
for the measured pollutants are shown in Table 1. Mean (S.D.) eld blank values
were: 15.5 (21.8) mg for PM2.5, 14.3 (12.4) mg for PM102.5, 1.6 (2.0) mg for BC, and 0.06
(0.96) ppb for NO2, representing errors of less than 0.04%, 0.04%, 0.1%, and 0.002% in
the respective PM2.5, PM102.5, BC, and NO2 measurements. For all measured species,
the percentage of valid samples was well above the acceptable value of 90% (Sarnat
et al., 2000).
2.5. Data analysis

2.2. Monitoring overview

Forty-eight-hour integrated PM (PM102.5 [coarse PM], PM2.5, BC) and 96-h
integrated NO2 samples were collected, both indoors and outdoors, at the four
schools for 16 weeks between January 7 and May 9, 2008. The 48-h samples were
collected twice a week (MondayeWednesday and WednesdayeFriday), and the 96h samples were collected once a week (MondayeFriday) between 8:30 and 11:30

Descriptive statistics, wind roses, correlation coefcients, coefcient of divergence (COD), and indooreoutdoor ratios were computed to characterize the data
and conduct data comparisons. Indooreoutdoor ratios were computed to assess
indooreoutdoor associations. Specically, Spearmans correlation coefcients were
computed to assess the inter-site associations for each pollutant and the intrapollutant associations at each site, which helped understand any temporal

2478

A.U. Raysoni et al. / Environmental Pollution 159 (2011) 2476e2486

Fig. 1. Map of the study area, including school locations and TCEQ CAMS sites.

similarity in pollutant concentrations at the paired sites (Pinto et al., 2004; Wilson
et al., 2005). COD analyses were performed to evaluate the spatial contrast
between the four schools and corresponding CAMS sites (Pinto et al., 2004; Krudysz
et al., 2008). The COD provides a degree of uniformity between two simultaneously
sampled sites, j and k by:
v
#2
u p "
u1 X x  x
i;j
i;k
CODj;k t
p i1 xi;j xi;k

3. Results

where xi,j is the ith concentration measured at site j over the sampling period, and p
is the number of observations. A small COD (r < 0.2) indicates similar pollutant
concentrations between two sites, whereas a value approaching unity indicates

Table 1
LOD, precision, and completeness.

PM102.5
PM2.5
BC
NO2

Units

LOD

Precision

Completeness

n  LOD

mg/m3
mg/m3
mg/m3

2.69
4.62
0.42
2.88

0.16
0.12
0.12
0.09

266/270
265/270
270/270
127/127

265
246
192
117

ppb

signicant difference in the absolute concentrations and subsequent spatial nonuniformity between the sites. All analyses were performed using SPSS for
Windows, v. 17.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). Wind roses were plotted using Wind Rose
software from Lakes Environmental Inc, CA.

(98.5%)
(98%)
(100%)
(100%)

(99.6%)
(92.8%)
(71.1%)
(92.1%)

3.1. Outdoor pollutant concentrations and spatiotemporal

variability
Descriptive statistics for the outdoor and CAMS concentrations
are presented in Table 2. The temporal variations of the monitored
pollutants at the four schools (indoors and outdoors) and TCEQ
CAMS sites are shown in Fig. 2. Spatiotemporal variability of the
monitored pollutant concentrations was assessed using COD
(Table 3) and correlation analyses (Table 4). The temporal variabilities for indoor and outdoor pollutant concentrations with their
corresponding TCEQ CAMS concentrations were also assessed
(Table 5). The wind roses from the six TCEQ CAMS sites are shown
in Fig. 3.

A.U. Raysoni et al. / Environmental Pollution 159 (2011) 2476e2486

2479

Table 2
Summary statistics of indoor, outdoor, and CAMS pollutant concentrations and corresponding indoor (I)-outdoor (O) ratios and correlations.
Pollutant

Site

Outdoor & Ambient Concentrations

Indoor Concentrations

Mean

Median

SD

Min

Max

Mean

I/O Ratios

I/O Correlations

Median

SD

Min

Max

Median

Min

Max

R2

48-h PM10
(mg/m3)

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B
CAMS12
CAMS41
CAMS49

29
31
28
27
31
32
32

18.4
39.0
93.0
63.2
35.2
34.6
43.6

17.3
38.5
84.8
53.7
29.2
30.3
41.3

8.8
17.6
41.3
40.1
22.8
20.3
23.6

5.9
15.1
40.1
20.0
13.3
14.1
20.4

39.5
100.5
237.4
214.2
124.2
114.5
142.9

29
30
28
27

16.7
19.7
71.4
45.8

15.9
16.3
63.4
43.7

6.6
16.1
34.8
18.9

7.0
4.6
17.7
17.9

35.7
90.5
166.9
87.1

0.89
0.47
0.77
0.81

2.05
0.9
1.15
2.26

0.48
0.26
0.17
0.41

0.59
0.68
0.62
0.10

48-h PM102.5
(mg/m3)

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B
CAMS12
CAMS41

31
31
28
27
31
32

9.9
24.5
57.9
37.5
26.3
24.9

9.3
24.6
52.9
31.5
20.1
20.5

5.1
10.8
21.6
19.4
19.6
16.8

2.8
9.5
26.7
9.6
10.6
10.4

25.0
66.0
109.9
83.8
104.2
94.3

31
31
28
27

8.9
9.9
42.2
24.7

8.2
6.1
39.8
22.1

4.0
10.1
18.0
10.0

3.5
1.2
10.0
12.6

22.0
56.8
101.2
53.6

0.89
0.39
0.8
0.67

0.38
0.09
0.13
0.28

1.57
0.86
1.25
2.88

0.72
0.55
0.35
0.75

48-h PM2.5
(mg/m3)

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B
CAMS12
CAMS41

29
31
29
28
31
32

8.3
14.5
34.6
26.2
9.0
9.7

7.7
13.7
30.4
19.8
8.2
9.0

4.1
7.8
22.9
22.9
4.4
4.7

2.6
1.2
12.1
7.5
2.6
2.4

20.9
39.1
127.5
130.4
20.0
21.9

29
30
29
28

7.5
9.6
29.4
21.5

6.4
8.8
24.5
19.2

3.3
6.3
19.3
11.6

2.6
1.5
7.7
5.4

15.8
33.7
104.3
59.8

0.91
0.59
0.91
0.86

0.26
0.24
0.26
0.46

3.04
2.74
1.37
1.69

0.10
0.77
0.79
0.42

48-h BC
(mg/m3)

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B

31
31
29
28

0.52
0.71
0.95
0.89

0
0.2
0.19
0.67

1.39
1.22
1.57
1.43

0.68
0.84
0.87
0.89

96-h NO2
(ppb)

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B
CAMS12
CAMS37
CAMS41

15
16
16
16
16
16
16

1.02
0.61
1.02
3.45

0.23
0.33
0.51
1.17

2.05
0.94
2.3
8.1

0.53
2.56
0.49
0.63

0.23
0.75
1.81
2.48
4.5
14.2
18.8
26.8
18.4
20.4
13.9

0.16
0.67
1.63
2.39
3.6
14.0
18.1
23.0
17.3
17.5
12.0

0.2
0.39
1.07
1.27
3.5
3.2
5.6
10.2
5.6
4.9
6.5

0.00
0.15
0.38
0.65
1.7
9.0
13.0
15.2
11.6
15.0
6.0

0.65
1.74
5.54
5.08
15.3
21.2
36.6
50.4
33.3
30.0
29.8

30
31
29
28
16
16
16
16

Outdoor PM concentrations exhibited distinct spatial variation

both within and between the two cities. Across all four schools, CJ-A
recorded mean outdoor concentrations six times higher than EP-A
for PM102.5 and four times higher for PM2.5 (Table 2). COD values
for this site pairing (0.73 and 0.60 for PM102.5 and PM2.5, respectively) quantied the high degree of spatial variability in overall PM
levels across the schools. Within El Paso, outdoor PM concentrations were more than two-fold higher at the high trafc school EP-B
than at the low trafc school EP-A for PM102.5 (COD 0.45) and
almost two-fold higher for PM2.5 (COD 0.35). In Ciudad Jurez the
low trafc school CJ-A recorded higher outdoor PM concentrations
than the high trafc school CJ-B. While CJ-A was located in the low
trafc zone, the higher concentrations were likely due to high levels
of fugitive dust, as suggested also by the higher PM102.5 concentrations at this site. COD values between CJ-A and CJ-B (0.28 and
0.20 for PM102.5 and PM2.5, respectively) were lower than those for
El Paso schools, suggesting less heterogeneity in PM pollutant
concentrations within Ciudad Jurez compared to El Paso for the
sites monitored in this study.
Overall, high PM102.5 levels relative to PM2.5 levels supports
previous observations that the PM10 mass in the PdN region is
dominated by coarse particles (Li et al., 2001; U.S. EPA, 2005).
Coarse particles are predominantly composed of geologic materials which are strongly associated with wind-blown dust, pollen,
and dust generated from mechanical disturbances such as emissions from construction and quarrying activities in the PdN region
(Li et al., 2001). Judging from the high PM102.5 concentrations
observed at CJ-A (57.9  21.6 mg/m3) and CJ-B (37.5  19.4 mg/m3)

0.14
0.56
1.74
2.28
4.0
8.1
22.8
114.9

0.09
0.50
1.35
2.10
3.5
7.9
19.8
82.8

0.15
0.36
1.20
1.33
2.2
1.1
12.5
98.9

0.00
0.03
0.33
0.84
1.2
6.4
8.8
24.3

0.53
1.59
5.27
6.15
10.2
10.4
59.2
328.3

in Ciudad Jurez and the prevailing westerly winds during the

study period (Figs. 1 and 3), it is likely that the observed high PM
during this study was largely caused by fugitive dust emissions
from unpaved roads and/or unvegetated surfaces in Ciudad
Jurez.
Outdoor BC and NO2 levels also exhibited high spatial variability
across the four schools, ranging from means of 0.23 mg/m3 and
4.5 ppb at EP-A, respectively, to 2.48 mg/m3 and 26.8 ppb at CJ-B,
respectively. High COD values (0.84 for BC and 0.74 for NO2) for
this site pairing also indicated high spatial variability of these
pollutants across the schools. In contrast to total PM levels, the
within city concentration differences for these pollutants corresponded to the trafc zones, with higher mean BC and NO2 levels
recorded at EP-B and CJ-B compared to EP-A and CJ-A, respectively.
Whereas mobile source emissions were likely the primary
contributor to the observed outdoor BC concentrations in El Paso,
cooking, waste burning, wood burning, and primitive brick
manufacturing may have contributed to the high outdoor BC
concentrations observed in Ciudad Jurez. NO2 levels along the
border, as observed at EP-B, CAMS 12, 37, and 41, appeared to be
similar and elevated due to the close proximity to major arterial
roadways.
3.2. Indoor pollutant concentrations
In addition to the measured outdoor and CAMS pollutant
concentrations, Table 2 presents the indoor pollutant concentrations, indooreoutdoor ratios, and indooreoutdoor correlations.

2480

A.U. Raysoni et al. / Environmental Pollution 159 (2011) 2476e2486

Fig. 2. Temporal Variations of the monitored pollutants at the four schools (indoor and outdoor) and TCEQ CAMS sites.

Indoor pollutant concentrations were generally lower than those

recorded outdoors, and exhibited similar patterns across the four
schools as those observed among the outdoor concentrations. For
example, indoor levels for PM were considerably lower in El Paso
schools compared to Ciudad Jurez schools. Indoor levels of BC
were also higher at the high trafc schools (e.g., EP-B [0.56  0.36]
and CJ-B [2.28  1.33] mg/m3) compared to the low trafc schools
(e.g., EP-A [0.14  0.15] and CJ-A [1.74  1.20] mg/m3). Similarly, the
indoor concentrations for NO2 at EP-B (8.1  1.1 ppb) were two
times higher than EP-A (4.0  2.2 ppb), in stark contrast to the
concentrations at CJ-B (114.9  98.9 ppb) which were almost more
than ve times higher than CJ-A (22.8  12.5 ppb). The highest
concentration observed at CJ-B was 328 ppb and the lowest was
24 ppb, compared to the 1-h average NAAQS (National Ambient Air
Quality Standards) for NO2, 100 ppb. This suggests that the high
concentrations observed at this indoor microenvironment would
have been much higher since the data was averaged over a 96-h
period.

4. Discussion
4.1. Spatial contrast between the four schools
As part of the rst binational health effects study investigating
the impact of trafc-related air pollution on asthmatic children, we
assessed the level of intra-urban spatial variability among trafc
pollutants in El Paso and Ciudad Jurez. Substantial spatial
contrasts were observed for all the measured pollutants in this
study. This nding is consistent with previous studies in the PdN
that have demonstrated considerable spatial and temporal variation in major trafc air pollutants like PM and NO2 at the intraurban level (Eineld and Church, 1995; Holguin et al., 2007;
Li et al., 2001, 2003; Noble et al., 2003). Eineld and Church
(1995) documented that winter season PM10 levels were greater
in the central areas of El Paso-Ciudad Jurez and the incremental
concentration gradients were observed toward Ciudad Jurez.
Li et al. (2001) found higher ne and coarse PM concentrations in

A.U. Raysoni et al. / Environmental Pollution 159 (2011) 2476e2486

2481

Table 3
Coefcient of divergence (COD) values for the monitored pollutants (Indoor and Outdoor).
Microenvironment

Outdoor

Pollutant

Site

EP-B

CJ-A

CJ-B

CAMS12

CAMS41

CAMS49

Indoor

PM10

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B
CAMS12
CAMS41

0.39

0.69
0.42

0.56
0.26
0.24

0.32
0.17
0.5
0.36

0.32
0.14
0.50
0.34
0.1

0.42
0.27
0.41
0.10
0.16
0.14

PM102.5

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B
CAMS12

0.45

0.73
0.42

0.59
0.25
0.28

0.45
0.19
0.47
0.32

PM2.5

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B
CAMS12

0.35

0.6
0.43

0.51
0.33
0.20

0.17
0.31
0.58
0.5

BC

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B

0.63

0.78
0.38

0.84
0.49
0.21

NO2

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B
CAMS12
CAMS41

0.59

0.65
0.16

0.74
0.31
0.22

0.65
0.15
0.08
0.23

EP-B

CJ-A

CJ-B

CAMS12

CAMS41

CAMS49

0.17

0.62
0.61

0.49
0.48
0.29

0.37
0.33
0.42
0.25

0.36
0.33
0.41
0.23

0.45
0.42
0.33
0.16

0.43
0.16
0.47
0.31
0.13

0.19

0.66
0.68

0.51
0.54
0.33

0.47
0.50
0.38
0.20

0.46
0.49
0.37
0.19

0.17
0.29
0.56
0.49
0.09

0.24

0.58
0.53

0.51
0.46
0.24

0.21
0.21
0.53
0.42

0.22
0.21
0.51
0.41

0.74

0.86
0.50

0.90
0.58
0.25

0.44

0.70
0.45

0.89
0.77
0.59

0.67
0.39
0.20
0.62

0.70
0.43
0.21
0.60

0.56
0.15
0.23
0.36
0.2

their Ciudad Jurez sites compared to El Paso sites, and attributed

these observations to major anthropogenic sources like high
number of unpaved roads, brick kilns, automobile and industrial
pollution. In a winter pilot study conducted in El Paso February
1999, Gonzales et al. (2005) reported increasing NO2 concentration
levels from 11.0 to 37.5 ppb with decreasing elevation from
northeast El Paso to the U.S.-Mexico border, based on measurements made at twenty elementary schools and 4 TCEQ CAMS
stations.
Local emissions sources (such as major arterial roads
surrounding schools EP-B, CJ-B), and topographic barriers (school
EP-A is located in the eastern foothills of the Franklin Mountains) are
some factors that likely contribute to the observed variability in
these pollutant concentrations. Also, occasional high wind events
may result in localized differences in absolute concentrations for PM
between the sampled sites. COD values were also calculated
between outdoor school concentrations and the ambient concentrations for the PM species and NO2 from the TCEQ CAMS sites.
There was a strong agreement in pollutant concentrations
measured at CAMS 12 and CAMS 41, as the COD varies narrowly
between 0.09 and 0.13 for the PM species. Both CAMS 12 and CAMS
41 are considered good indicators for PM in the high exposure zone
since all COD values for PM species are below 0.2. The PM10 COD
values of 0.16 and 0.14 between CAMS 49 and CAMS 12 and between
CAMS 49 and CAMS 41, respectively, suggest spatial uniformity
between the three sites. The CODs for NO2 range from a low of 0.10
(CAMS 37 and CJ-A) to a high of 0.68 (CAMS 37 and EP-A). For CAMS
37 and CAMS 12, the NO2 COD value is the lowest at 0.09 which
corroborates the fact that for trafc surrogates, like NO2, central
ambient monitoring sites may not reect the actual concentrations
experienced by various sites within the same airshed because these
concentrations may be impacted by localized emissions.

CAMS37

0.68
0.18
0.1
0.2
0.09
0.26

CAMS37

0.57
0.30
0.29
0.70

In addition, CODs were computed between the indoor

pollutant concentrations at the four schools and the CAMS sites. In
El Paso, the spatial non-uniformity between the CAMS sites and
the indoor microenvironment at the two schools is conrmed
with the CODs being greater than 0.2 for PM2.5, greater than 0.33
for PM102.5, and 0.46 and higher for PM10. The indoor PM COD
values between the Ciudad Jurez schools and CAMS sites further
concurs spatial heterogeneity except when CJ-B is paired with
CAMS 12 (0.2) and CAMS 41 (0.19) for PM102.5 concentrations. The
absolute concentrations for indoor NO2 at schools EP-A, EP-B, and
CJ-B differed considerably with the concentrations at CAMS 12,
CAMS 41, and CAMS 37 as is evident from higher COD values that
varied from 0.39 (EP-B and CAMS 12) to 0.70 (EP-A and CAMS 41;
CJ-B and CAMS 37). The indoor COD values for CJ-A were in
contrast a little lower than the other three schools (0.20, 0.21, 0.29
when paired with CAMS 12, 41, and 37, respectively) suggesting
more homogeneity for NO2 between this school and the three
CAMS sites.
4.2. Inter-site and intra-pollutant correlation analyses
In addition to the observed spatial variability in absolute
concentrations, the inter-site and intra-pollutant Spearmans
correlation coefcients (Table 4.) suggested a range of spatiotemporal variability in the monitored pollutant concentrations. For
example, across the schools, correlations ranged from 0.66 to 0.90
for PM102.5, 0.44e0.85 for PM2.5, 0.58e0.83 for BC, and 0.44e0.67
for NO2. Signicantly strong correlations indicating high temporal
trends between the four schools and the corresponding CAMS
sites for both indoor and outdoor microenvironment were
observed. The correlations between outdoor school concentrations
and the CAMS sites were statistically signicant (r > 0.53) for the

2482

Table 4
Outdoor school inter-site and intra-pollutant Spearmans correlations coefcients.
Pollutant

Site

PM102.5

PM2.5

BC

NO2

EP-B

CJ-A

CJ-B

EP-A

PM2.5
EP-B

CJ-A

CJ-B

EP-A

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B

1.00
0.81**
0.73*
0.38

1.00
0.82**
0.64*

1.00
0.88**

1.00

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B

0.97**
0.62*
0.73*
0.33

0.86**
0.90**
0.84**
0.65*

0.83**
0.88**
0.96**
0.81**

0.64*
0.73*
0.89**
0.96**

1.00
0.73**
0.88**
0.66*

1.00
0.90**
0.75*

1.00
0.88**

1.00

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B

0.94**
0.87**
0.56
0.77*

0.88**
0.93**
0.53
0.81**

0.55
0.74**
0.70*
0.94**

0.42
0.61
0.54
0.91**

0.90**
0.88**
0.53
0.83**

0.76**
0.70**
0.53
0.75**

0.50
0.72*
0.57
0.93**

0.41
0.59
0.49
0.84**

0.01
0.33
0.10
0.27

0.07
0.59
0.23
0.55

0.37
0.26
0.54
0.29

0.12
0.11
0.36
0.15

0.07
0.32
0.04
0.29

0.02
0.55
0.17
0.51

0.39
0.18
0.54
0.42

0.62*
0.52
0.05
0.45

0.23
0.17
0.67**
0.08

0.04
0.02
0.49
0.37

0.50
0.41
0.09
0.43

0.67*
0.42
0.05
0.47

0.39
0.38
0.67**
0.11

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B

0.26
0.21
0.50
0.28

0.27
0.06
0.38
0.34

EP-A
EP-B
CJ-A
CJ-B

0.46
0.03
0.59*
0.18

0.17
0.15
0.53*
0.20

0.44
0.51
0.02
0.36

1.00
0.85**
0.44
0.56

BC
EP-B

1.00
0.48
0.76**

CJ-A

CJ-B

NO2

EP-A

EP-B

CJ-A

CJ-B

1.00
0.57

1.00

0.36
0.26
0.46
0.50

0.08
0.29
0.22
0.08

0.15
0.21
0.08
0.29

1.00
0.75**
0.83**
0.58

1.00
0.68*
0.74**

1.00
0.80**

1.00

0.31
0.17
0.53*
0.02

0.23
0.36
0.09
0.29

0.38
0.32
0.01
0.25

0.63*
0.83**
0.67**
0.65**

0.70**
0.61*
0.500
0.531*

0.60*
0.78**
0.84**
0.60*

0.73**
0.73*
0.74**
0.61*

*Correlation is signicant at 0.05 level (2 tailed test).

**Correlation is signicant at 0.01 level (2 tailed test).
All the correlations are based on 96-h averages. For PM and BC, two 48-h averages (MoneWed, WedeFri) were added to get the 96-h averages.
N 8e16 for all pairs.

EP-A

EB-B

CJ-A

CJ-B

1.00
0.67**
0.58*
0.56*

1.00
0.60*
0.57*

1.00
0.44

1.00

A.U. Raysoni et al. / Environmental Pollution 159 (2011) 2476e2486

PM10

PM102.5

PM10
EP-A

A.U. Raysoni et al. / Environmental Pollution 159 (2011) 2476e2486

Table 5
Spearmans correlation coefcients of indooreoutdoor pollutant concentrations
with concentrations from CAMS sites.
Microenvironment

Indoor

Pollutant

Location

EP-A

EP-B

CJ-A

CJ-B

EP-A

Outdoor
EP-B

CJ-A

CJ-B

PM10

CAMS12
CAMS41
CAMS49

0.47
0.55
0.65

0.71
0.70
0.79

0.47
0.65
0.61

0.66
0.75
0.65

0.81
0.84
0.87

0.65
0.76
0.80

0.78
0.85
0.72

0.69
0.78
0.61

PM102.5

CAMS12
CAMS41

0.57
0.60

0.54
0.50

0.37
0.43

0.55
0.52

0.77
0.82

0.60
0.62

0.66
0.67

0.59
0.65

PM2.5

CAMS12
CAMS41

0.49
0.55

0.78
0.77

0.85
0.80

0.85
0.82

0.68
0.67

0.74
0.76

0.88
0.72

0.86
0.79

NO2

CAMS12
CAMS37
CAMS41

0.87
0.71
0.76

0.12
0.19
0.14

0.40
0.42
0.51

0.43
0.46
0.51

0.54
0.63
0.83

0.77
0.90
0.90

0.77
0.56
0.71

0.53
0.56
0.66

The PM correlations are based on 48-h averages. The NO2 correlations are based on
96-h averages. Correlation coefcients in bold are signicant at 0.05 level. The
numbers in italics and underlined are signicant at 0.01 level. N 26e31 for PM,
and N 15e16 for NO2.

PM species and NO2. Indoor pollutant concentrations at the

schools correlated moderately and signicantly with their corresponding CAMS values except for indoor NO2 at EP-B (Table 5). The
indoor NO2 correlations at this school were negative
(0.19 < r < 0.14) in relation to the three CAMS sites, which was
not as per our expectations.
Intra-pollutant Spearmans correlation coefcients indicated
that the three PM species, across all the sampling sites, were
highly correlated with each other. Correlations were positive and
robust for PM102.5 and PM10 (r > 0.90) and the same trend was
observed between PM2.5 and PM10 (r > 0.70). Signicantly strong
and positive correlations also existed between NO2 and BC
(r > 0.61). Many studies have documented positive and strong
correlations between PM2.5 and NO2 and have suggested the
usage of NO2 as a surrogate for PM2.5 mass (Janssen et al., 2001;
Lam et al., 1999; Miller et al., 2010). We did not observe similar
levels of correlations between pollutant correlations for these two
species in the current study. This can be attributed to the fact that
there might be fugitive sources for PM2.5 other than trafc,
especially in Ciudad Juarez where a lot of brick kilns are situated
in close proximity to CJ-B (Blackman and Bannister, 1997) and
a high percentage of surfaces are subjected to wind erosion and
vehicular movements. Our results are, however, relevant in that
we found signicantly strong and positive correlations between
NO2 and BC (r > 0.61) which is due to the common emission
sources for both pollutants. In fact, it has been previously reported that approximately 72 percent of all NO2 emissions are
apportioned to trafc emissions in Ciudad Jurez (SEMARNAT,
2006). BC is an important marker for incomplete diesel
combustion emissions, thereby, vindicating the strong and positive correlations observed between BC and NO2 (Sarnat et al.,
2010; Von Schneidemesser et al., 2010). The strong NO2eBC
correlations observed in this study are consistent with the ndings by Lewne et al. (2004) and Miller et al. (2010), positing that
PM2.5 reectance (i.e. BC) and not PM2.5 mass is an appropriate
proxy for NO2 in most urban areas.
4.3. Indooreoutdoor ratios and correlations
Indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratios for pollutant concentrations may
be affected by various parameters: differences in building
envelope tightness (Goyal and Khare, 2009; Luoma and Batterman,

2483

2001; Poupard et al., 2005), building design (Ashmore and

Dimitroulopoulou, 2009), pollutant differential penetration efciency (Sarnat et al., 2006), building air exchange rates (RojasBracho et al., 2000; Singer et al., 2004), presence of central air
conditioning (Li et al., 2003), types of HVAC systems (Parker et al.,
2008; Weschler, 2009), other indoor air pollution sources (Wadden
and Scheff, 1983), and human presence, occupancy rates and
patterns (Blondeau et al., 2005; Branis et al., 2005; Diapouli et al.,
2008; Guo et al., 2008; Monn et al., 1997).
Multiple factors may have inuenced the indoor concentrations in this study, including levels of indoor activity in the
monitored locations and levels of outdoor pollutants and building
inltration levels. It is likely that indoor activities contributed to
the indoor PM and NO2 concentrations observed in this study. For
example, high indooreoutdoor ratios for PM102.5 (0.89) and
PM2.5 (0.91) were observed at EP-A. The room in which monitoring was conducted in this school received high student trafc.
It is possible that resuspension of dust caused by student activities in the room contributed to high levels of indoor PM2.5 relative
to the outdoors. These ratios are in sharp contrast to those
observed for EP-B (0.39 for PM102.5 and 0.59 for PM2.5), which
experienced minimal human trafc in the indoor microenvironment. In addition, extremely high indoor NO2 concentrations
were observed at CJ-B throughout the study period (mean 96-h
average levels of 114.9 ppb). At this school, gas and kerosene
heaters were used during the winter months and gas stoves were
often used for food preparation during the sampling periods.
Unventilated gas or kerosene heaters and cooking stoves are
major indoor sources of NO2 (Dimitroulopoulou et al., 2001; Melia
et al., 1990), and may contribute to high indoor exposures for
children and teachers.
Differential inltration efciencies of the outdoor pollutants
indoors (between schools and pollutants) were shown to be
a particularly inuential factor predicting indoor concentration
levels. Correlation analyses showed a range of association between
indoor and outdoor concentrations, suggesting variability in the
inuence of outdoor concentrations on indoor levels, both between
pollutants (e.g., the indooreoutdoor R2 value at EP-B was 0.55 for
PM102.5 compared to 0.77 for PM2.5) and across schools for the
same pollutant (e.g., the indooreoutdoor R2 value for PM2.5 was
0.10 at EP-A compared to 0.77 at EP-B). Generally, coarse particles
have lower penetration efciency and are removed by means of
gravitational settling (Tippayawong et al., 2009). Indeed,
indooreoutdoor ratios for PM102.5 at each school were lower than
corresponding ratios for PM2.5.
The ventilation systems between the El Paso and Ciudad Jurez
schools also varied. EP-A and EP-B were heated through a closedloop radiant heater with minimum fresh air from outdoors
during the winter months, and with individual evaporative coolers
throughout the school premises for summer thermal comfort. CJ-A
and CJ-B relied on natural ventilation for cooling in the summer and
used kerosene gas heaters for heating during the winter months. As
a result, the schools in Ciudad Jurez likely experienced greater
outdoor pollutant inltration than schools in El Paso, which
corresponds to the high indooreoutdoor BC ratios (0.89 and 0.95)
in CJ compared to EP (0.52 and 0.71).
The BC indooreoutdoor ratio may serve as a good indicator for
building inltration due to the general absence of indoor BC sources
in these schools and high inltration rates of ne particles (Wallace,
1996). The ratios computed for this study are comparable with the
IeO ratios (w1.0) at schools near major roadways as observed by
Janssen et al. (2001). Of all the measured pollutants, the
indooreoutdoor BC levels displayed a very robust and strong
relationship (R2 w 0.68e0.89) across the four schools in contrast to
the other pollutant species.

2484

A.U. Raysoni et al. / Environmental Pollution 159 (2011) 2476e2486

Fig. 3. Wind roses for the TCEQ CAMS sites for the study period.

5. Conclusions
This binational study characterized levels of major air pollutants
(PM10, PM102.5, PM2.5, BC, NO2), indoors and outdoors, at four
schools in two cities in the Paso del Norte region. Strong spatial
heterogeneity in air pollutant concentrations exists with all absolute concentrations higher in Ciudad Jurez than in El Paso. Schools

within the high trafc zone in Ciudad Jurez were observed to have
the highest indoor concentrations of NO2 and BC, but not PM2.5.
Trafc-related PM pollution was confounded by the ubiquitous
fugitive dust emissions, whether from unpaved roads or bare soil
surfaces, such that both ne and coarse PM (PM2.5 and PM102.5)
measured in the low trafc zone surpassed those measured in the
high trafc zone in Ciudad Jurez. Inter-site and intra-pollutant

A.U. Raysoni et al. / Environmental Pollution 159 (2011) 2476e2486

analyses suggested that BC and NO2 would be better trafc pollution indicators than any of the PM metrics. On the contrary, levels of
all ambient pollutants measured in the high trafc zone exceeded
those measured in the low trafc zone in El Paso where almost all
streets were paved. Indoor air pollution, in general, was found to be
well associated with outdoor air pollution, although differences
existed among all the schools.
Pollutant concentration trends observed during this short study
period may vary temporally if different seasons are taken into
account and that the weekend concentration proles for the
various pollutants might differ since sampling was undertaken only
during weekdays. Nevertheless, our objectives were achieved by
providing indoor and outdoor exposure concentration estimates for
characterizing childrens exposure during weekdays and by
corroborating that central ambient monitoring alone may not
mirror the representative pollutant concentrations in urban areas
that experience varying levels of trafc and other fugitive emission
sources. We concur that pollutant sampling in different microenvironments and different exposure zones as conducted in this study
are central toward estimating childrens true trafc exposures. Our
overall results validate the United States Environment Protection
Agencys recommendations for school-based air pollution monitoring, in lieu of the conventional central site monitoring methodology, for winnowing the best environmental health indicator for
school-going children. Results from this study would also aid in
evaluating the effectiveness of pollution reduction strategies in
majorityeminority communities of the U.S.-Mexico border region
eventually assisting policy makers toward achieving their designated air quality standards.
Acknowledgments
Funding for this research was provided by the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO). The authors express their gratitude to
the School Districts, principals, nurses and students who participated in this study. We also thank Veronica Guerrero, Mario Garcia,
Patricia Sanchez, and Landy Breton for helping with eld sampling.
The contents of this paper are solely the authors responsibility and
do not represent the ofcial views of PAHO.
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